INDO-SARACENIC

ARCHITECTURE
 What is Indo-Saracenic?
An architectural style movement by British architects in the
late 19th century British India which drew elements from
native Indo-Islamic and Indian architecture, and combined it
with the Gothic revival and Neo-Classical styles favoured
in Victorian Britain.
 Development of the Style
• BEFORE 1857- European classical style (incorporating Greek
and Roman Features such as columns, triangular pediments)
employed for the public buildings: image as the holders of
power and status and to distance themselves from the
natives.

• REVOLT OF 1857- India began to be ruled under the British

crown: essential to legitimatize their rule and connect to the
natives of the colonised land.
“In the public buildings put up by the Raj it was essential
always to make visible Britain’s imperial position as ruler, for
these structures were charged with the explicit purpose of
representing empire itself. Since they wanted to legitimatize
their rule, they decided to justify their presence by relating
themselves to the previous rulers, the Mughals. The British
deliberately kept Mughal princes in power so as to not to
provoke Indian contempt and to further establish their
connection to the Mughals. These princes were a vision of the
future, but the British also needed them to be a
representation of the past. And it worked.”

-Sir Thomas Metcalf

St. George's Cathedral, Chennai (1815) Chepauk Palace, Chennai (1864)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._George's_Cathedral,_Chennai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chepauk_Palace
 Principal Characteristics
• Onion (Bulbous) Domes
• Overhanging Eaves
• Pointed Arches, Cusped Arches, or Scalloped Arches
• Vaulted Roofs
• Domed Kiosks
• Many Miniature Domes, or Domed Chhatris
• Towers or Minarets
• Harem Windows
• Open Pavilions
• Pierced Open Arcading
 Leading Architects
• Robert Fellowes Chisholm
• Charles Mant
• Henry Irwin
• William Emerson
• George Wittet
• Frederick W. Stevens
 Prominent Buildings
• Courts and other Civic Buildings
• Clock Towers
• Government Colleges and High School Buildings
• Railway Stations
• Art Galleries
• Palaces of the Indian Maharajas
Map showing the locations of cities having Indo Saracenic style buildings in India
http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/pdfs/
 The Princely States and the British
• From the middle of the 19th century, the British Crown
became the guarantor of peace and commerce treaties.
• The princely states were, watched over by British agents and
their powers were limited to internal matters.
• Change in lifestyle began to be reflected in their architecture
as well - durbar halls, rooms for European guests were built,
introduction of the dining and drawing rooms, fireplaces,
marble fountains and statues.
• New princely towns of Jaipur, Bikaner and Mysore most
successful in negotiating this divide.
Amba Vilas Palace (1900-
1910), Mysore
• Henry Irwin
• fluted pillars from the Red
Fort in Delhi, onion domes
from the Taj Mahal, Mughal
tracery and European halls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mysore_Palace,_India

Durbargadh Waghaji Palace

(1882), Morvi
•Indo-Venetian Gothic building
•Saracenic domes and Rajput
arches. http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articl
es&ArticleID=1006

Such palaces were a sophisticated political symbol of the imperial

presence- outwardly Indian and built by Indian hands, the overall
control stayed with the British.
SENATE HOUSE- MADRAS UNIVERSITY
• Constructed by Robert Chisholm between 1874 and 1879
• Inspired by the Byzantine and built in the Indo-Saracenic style.
http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/pdfs/
http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/pdfs/
http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/pdfs/
 Turrets

Stone columns with sculptured capital

http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/pdfs/ Hindu iconography on the capital

 Large clerestory circular openings decorated with
coloured glass

http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/pdfs/
SECRETARIAT BUILDING, NEW DELHI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_Building,_New_Delhi
Secretariat Complex, North Block. Delhi. 1930s
Photograph by Medha Malik Kudaisya
 Plan of the Secretariat along the Rajpath

Two blocks of symmetrical buildings (North Block and South

Block) on opposite sides of the great axis of Rajpath, and
flanking the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's House).
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_Building,_New_Delhi

•Designed to form two squares; broad corridors between different

wings and wide stairways to the four floors.
•Each building is topped by a giant dome, while each wing’s end
with colonnaded balcony.
Photograph by Medha Malik Kudaisya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_Building,_New_Delhi
Columns and colonnaded verandahs Chattris & Chajjas in red sandstone
Photograph by Medha Malik Kudaisya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_Building,_New_Delhi
“The men who will actually leave the impress of their hands on
the material. These men have an art language of their own, a
language which you can recognize but cannot thoroughly
understand. For this reason an architect practicing in India
should unhesitatingly select to practice in the native styles of
art - indeed the natural art-expression of the men is the only
art to be obtained in the country.”

-Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1840-1915)

 REFERENCES
• Gupta, Narayani. Delhi Between two empires, 1803-1921.
Delhi, 1986
• Irving, R G. Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker and Imperial Delhi.
New Haven, 1981.
• Metcalf, T R. An Imperial Vision. Indian Architecture and
Britain's Raj. Berkeley, 1989.