Preview

Mughal Architecture

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2857 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mughal Architecture
MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE

All the early Mughal Rulers except Aurangzeb were great bui1ders. With the coming of the Mughals, Indian architecture was greatly influenced by Persian styles. The Mughals constructed excellent mausoleums, mosques, forts, gardens and cities. The Mughal buildings show a uniform pattern both in structure and character.
The main characteristic features of Mughal architecture are the bulbous domes, the slender minarets with cupolas at the four corners, large halls, massive vaulted gateways and delicate ornamentation.
The few mosques and palaces built by Babar and Humayun are not of much architectural significance
Sher Shah of the Sur Dynasty who ruled over the Kingdom of the Mughals after driving Humayun out of the country was not only a great administrator but a lover of art also. He built several forts, tombs and mosques. The monuments of Sher Shah are a continuation of the Lodi style. The mausoleums are octagonal in plan and have verandahs around them, surmounted by huge domes. The verandahs have three smaller domes on each side.

Sher Shah built the Purana Quila in Delhi. Started by him, it was completed by Humayun. Built of red and buff sand-stone, it is ornamented with black and white marble and coloured tiles. A beautiful mosque inside the Quila with ornamental arches, decorative panels, geometrical designs and inscriptions is an example of the development of architecture and ornamentation during Sher Shah's reign.
Sher Shah's tomb at Sasaram in Bihar built in 1549 is in the centre of a large square tank and rises al 46 metres high. It is a two storey construction on a terraced platform. The upper terrace has pillared domes and the two storeys above have a pillared kiosk at the four corners. The base of the large central dome has thirty two sides. The tomb is decorated with coloured tiles, very few of which remain now. Entrance to the tomb is through a domed structure.
Mughal architecture begins with Akbar who showed his passion

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Guptas built many temples using their sculptural architectural style. Gupta temples were usually very large and filled with elaborate carvings. The Guptas built most temples for religious deities. Most Gupta temples were built of sandstone, granite, and brick. “… there is no doubt that during the Gupta period Indian art experienced its greatest creative growth, which ultimately produced a quality of art that has not been surpassed in India since that time. Some of the sculpture created then is among the best in the world… design by the Gupta artist not only influenced Gupta art but also determined the course of Indian art for centuries following the decline of the Gupta dynasty” (Allen, 101). The Persian Empire’s architecture was mostly known for its simplicity and clarity. Persian architecture was heavily by the Greeks and Egyptians. Columns were heavily used in the Persian Empire. The columns in Persian architecture were slender and closely fluted. “… Persian architecture was the end of a good quality of the spirit, a feeling for the abstract as form in architecture” (Wright, 192).…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Muslim Gunpowder COMP

    • 364 Words
    • 1 Page

    Mughal Empires were similar with eachother in wealth, due to the fact that the empires had…

    • 364 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Taj Mahal is extremely well balanced in its design. Each side of the Taj Mahal is exactly the same giving it a symmetrical appearance. The focal point is the entire main structure that is immediately visible and almost framed by the gateway entrance. The large scale, equally proportioned project was completed over twenty-two years to resemble the love of his deceased wife. The visual rhythm can be identified in the repetitious use of over 25 different semi precious stones and calligraphy throughout the design. Unity is seen in its symmetry proportion and white marble, yet is not lost in the variety of lines that are present. The variety of color is present because of the reddish mosque on both sides the give the…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mughal and Safavid were a few of the strongest empires in their time. These empires shared many similarities, but one major similarity is their political structures. The Safavid and Mughal both had a centralized government, based on military conquest, and were both Muslim based empires. But like many things these two empires do have differences, they were both in different regions, overall population was different, and the branch of Islam they followed was separate.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gunpowder Empires

    • 1376 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The culture of the Mughal Empire included many influences on the ottoman and Indian peoples. Most of their architectural styles demonstrated elements of pen skins and Islamic.…

    • 1376 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mughal vs. Ottoman

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Mughal and the Ottoman Empires were two of the greatest and most powerful civilizations of the ancient period. Their fame and glory in the sixteenth century represented the zenith of art, architecture, and human creativity. These eminent empires were the largest and the most influential civilizations of the Muslim world, and their splendor reached as far as Europe. The two most important rulers of these empires were Akbar the Great and Suleiman the Magnificent, under whose reign the empire reached its triumphant moments. Just as the reign of Akbar and Suleiman marked the Golden age, their deaths resulted in the slow downfall of the empires. Both the Ottoman and Mughal empires were distinctive civilizations of their time due to the local culture forces and the Islamic culture that impacted them in the areas of art, government, and social structure. However, out of the two, the Mughal Empire was more successful than the Ottoman Empire, because of its consolidated rule, its hierarchy of power, and its tolerance for women.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Isfahan

    • 2484 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Built during the Safavid period, it is an excellent example of Islamic architecture of Iran, and regarded as one of the masterpieces of Persian Architecture. The Shah Mosque of Esfahan is one of the everlasting masterpieces of architecture in Iran. It is registered, along with the Naghsh-i Jahan Square, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its construction began in 1611, and its splendor is mainly due to the beauty of its seven-colour mosaic tiles and calligraphic inscriptions.…

    • 2484 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The dome of the rock is a big Islamic architecture with a lot of marvels exterior designs, paintings, Islamic patterns and mosaic with a…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Islamic architecture is starts to get popular in the Middle East as well as Spain, Asia, and other around the seventeenth century. The Muslim used this art to in many things, like the religion school, tombs, and mostly in the mosques. Mosque or as they call it in Arabic “Masjid”, is where the Muslim worship god. The great mosque of Cordoba is a great example of the Islamic Architecture. All Mosques are consisting of large columned hall whose square or rectangular shape derives from the simple urban houses made out of sun-dried bricks. All Muslim when they pray, they…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Arabic Influences In Spain

    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Architecture can manifest the aspects of a culture and their influences. Throughout Southern Spain the influence of the Arabian architecture on the landscape is portrayed in the same elements used on mosques. According to Naissance Renaissance, “The elements such as the horseshoe arches, muqarnas (plaster placed in geometric patterns surrounded by calligraphy), voussoirs of different colors, striped decorations, colorful tilework (azulejo), simple columns, and domes.” The horseshoe arches, columns, and the dome gave extra strength to the building. These same elements can be seen in the building and mosques built in Arab countries such as Iraq and Egypt.…

    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 8 Study Guide

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan erected this building complex as a tomb and monument for his wife.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. Based on Persian History (Dr. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, n.d), in the Seljuq era, the first mosque construction appears under the Iranian plan. Some of the decorations of the mosque are refer to Syrian style.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Falaknuma Palace

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The palace was built in the shape of a scorpion with two stings spread out as wings in the north. The middle part is occupied by the main building and the kitchen, Gol Bangla, Zenana Mehal, and harem quarters stretch to the south. The Nawab was an avid traveler, and his influences show in the architecture.…

    • 1440 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    architecture

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Architecture in Rajasthan represents many different types of buildings, which may broadly be classed either as secular or religious. The secular buildings are of various scales. They include towns, villages, wells, gardens, houses, and palaces. All these kinds of…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mughal painting is a particular style of Indian painting, generally confined to illustrations on the book and done in miniatures, and which emerged, developed and took shape during the period of the Mughal Empire 16th −19th centuries.…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics