Article Review Assignment:

Hillenbrand, Robert. “TURCO-IRANIAN ELEMENTS IN THE MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE OF PAKISTAN: THE CASE OF
THE TOMB OF RUKN-I `ALAM AT MULTAN”

The article by Robert Hillenbrand “TURCO-IRANIAN ELEMENTS IN THE MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE OF PAKISTAN:
THE CASE OF THE TOMB OF RUKN-I `ALAM AT MULTAN” mainly focuses on the architecture in Pakistan that
reflects the elements the architecture of Iranian and Mughal periods. Firstly, the author writes about the worth of
the tomb of Rukn-I`Alam and praises the structure of it. The status of the tomb of Rukn-i-Alam at Multan is the
finest Islamic mausoleum of pre-Mughal India has never seriously been disputed. Secondly, the key buildings in this
context are to be found in Transoxiana and Iranian. The earliest datable square mausoleum to survive in this area
is, by a happy chance, full of pointers to the tomb of Rukn-i-Alam. Later, enough has been said to indicate that the
tomb of Rukn-i-Alam is profoundly indebted to the traditions of Turco-Iranian funerary architecture. This influence
manifests itself in matters great and small alike, indeed at all levels.

The author begins the article by saying that the status of the tomb of Rukn-i-Alam at Multan is finest Islamic
mausoleum of pre-Mughal India1 has never seriously been disputed. The point of departure of this paper, then, is
that in its essentials the tomb of Rukn-i-Alam is anything but a local product. Rather it fits squarely within the
tradition of late Seljuq architecture9 as found in Iran and Central Asia. In pre-Islamic India this form was unknown;
the nearest approach to it, the domed Buddhist stupa, is more of a religious than a funerary monument.

The main body explains the detailed structure and architecture of the tomb of Shah Rukn-i-Alam and explains the
resemblance of the elements with the elements of Iranian and Transoxiana architecture. Not surprisingly,
therefore, the following two centuries produced, in tandem with the inevitable new political groupings, several
original, even radical, initiatives in funerary as in other architecture. In Central Asia polyhedral, flanged, and
polylobed forms, like those found in tombs at Urgench

In the last, he explains that to achieve a better understanding of the Multan school it is imperative to see it not as
the "onlie begetter" of subsequent mausolea in the surrounding area and further afield, but to accept its role as an
intermediary, a channel through which the already ancient traditions of funerary architecture in Iran and Central
Asia could flow. The tomb at Multan is a stage along a well-signposted path, neither a beginning nor an end. It is
precisely the kind of monument to be expected of a region dominated by the Tughluqid dynasty, whose name is
itself a reminder of the Central Asian origins of the family. With their language, political system, and military
organization all derived from Central Asia it is small wonder that the Tughluqids should have drawn the inspiration
for their architecture in large measure from the same source.

This article is, without any ambiguity, exceptional for understanding the reflection of artwork of previous centuries
in monuments of Pakistan focusing the architecture and structure of the tomb of shah Rukn-i-Alam. In main body
there is detailed study about the structure of the tomb and also the similarities with different architect’s` work
with avoiding the comparison in wrong way, which instigates reader to search further regarding the context of its
elements.