Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Agra Fort
Year of construction – 11th century originally, by Akbar in
1573 in present form
Built by – Mughals (in present form)
From starting, Agra Fort was a strategic place and epicenter of power and it
was used to command the entire India. The exact time of construction of the
original fort is unknown. The fort in its present form was constructed by
Mughals. All mughal rulers contributed to some extent in the construction of
the present structural form. Originally the fort was called Badalgarh which
was held by Raja Badal Singh, a Rajput king in year 1475. This fort however
came under control of Lodi dynasty of Delhi. Sikandar Lodi, the first delhi
sultan shifted his capital from Delhi to Agra and occupied this Agra Fort.
After the first battle of Panipat in 1526 between Ibrahim Lodi (son of
Sikandar Lodi) and Babur, the Agra Fort came under the control of Mughals.
In year 1540, this fort came in possession of Sher Shah Suri who defeated
Humayun and ousted him out although Humayun managed to recapture it
again in 1555. The fort was also occupied for few years by Hindu king Hem
Chandra Vikramaditya (Hemu) who defeated Humayun. But after the second
battle of Panipat in year 1556 between Hemu and Akbar, Hemu was defeated
and the fort came under the control of Mughals again. It was Akbar who built
the fort in the present form by red sandstones in 1573 and Shah Jahan also
contributed in its present design. Later this fort was captured by Marathas
in 18th century and then it came under the hands of British rule after Anglo
Maratha war of 1803.
Buland Darwaza
Char Minar
Char Minar of Hyderabad
Year of construction – 1591
Built by – Md. Quli Qutub Shah
Charminar is a symbolic icon of city of Hyderabad. It was constructed in year
1591 by Quli Qutub Shah. It is basically a mosque which is situated on the
banks of Musi river. As per the legend, Char minar was constructed as a
commemoration for the eradication of deadly plague disease which was
causing grave danger to the city. Quli Qutub Shah prayed and vowed to
construct the monument once the plague gets eradicated. Quli Qutub Shah
also founded the city of Hyderabad around this monument. Persian influence
can be found from the architecture of this building. The structure is basically
square 20 m long and having a minaret located at each corner. Height of each
minaret is 56 m. Granite, limestone and mortar are used as main building
materials.
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal of Agra
Year of construction : 1653
Built by : Shah Jahan
Taj Mahal was built the famous Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who is also
called as Mughal Architect. He has built a number of other monuments also
like : Red Fort of Delhi, Jama Masjid of Delhi, Moti Masjid of Lahore, Shalimar
gardens of Kashmir etc. This monument was built by him as a tribute and
loving memory of her wife Mumtaj. The construction work of Taj Mahal
started in year 1632 and completed in 1653. It was built under the
supervision of Architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri and 20,000 craftsmen. The
cost of construction is estimated to about 32 Million rupees at that time.
Fatehpur Sikri
Year of construction – 1569
Built by – Akbar
Fatehpur sikri is a planned fully fortified wall city which was founded by
Akbar in 1569. This city is located 37 Km from Agra and the main attraction
includes tomb of the sufi saint – Salim Chisti. This city was constructed by
Akbar to commemorate, consolidate and safeguard his victories over Rajput
kings of Chittor and Ranthambhor. Fathepur Sikri served as Mughal capital
from the period of 1571 to 1585. Its original name was coined as Fatehabad
which was later changed to Fatehpur Sikri. The name Fateh was coined to
mark the victory of Akbar over this Rajput kingdoms. The buildings of
Fathenpur Sikri represents the example of classical Persian architecture. The
buildings are made of red sand stones. The main attractions of this city are
– Buland Darwaza, Birbal’s house, Jama Masjid, Salim Chisti ki
Dargah, Diwan – e – Aam, Diwan – e – Khas, Ibadat Khana, Anup Talao, Panch
Mahal, Mariam-uz-Zamani Palace, Pachisi Court and Naubat Khana.
Gol Gumbaz
Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur
Year of construction – 1626 to 1656
Built by – Md Adil Shah
Gol Gumbaz is basically a tomb of Mohammad Adil Shah and his two wives.
This gumbaz is located in Bijapur of Karnataka. The structure is a huge dome
which is second largest of its kind of medieval world (first one is Hagia Sofia
of byzantine empire, presently in Turkey). This was constructed Adil Shah
when he was alive by the architect Yaqut of Dabul. The structure consists of
four minarets on each corners of a central dome standing on a cubical base.
The sides of the base are 47.5 meter in length and the dia of the dome is 44
meter. The minarets are seven storied and octagonal from inside carrying
staircase up to the upper dome structure. The most interesting part of this
dome is whispering gallery where even a slightest sound can be heard at
other side due its acoustic design.
Hawa Mahal
Hawa Mahal of Jaipur
Year of construction – 1799
Built by – Sawai Raja Pratap Singh
Hawa Mahal was built by Sawai King Pratap Singh and the construction was
completed in year 1799. The palace was designed by Ustad Lal Chand and
red and pink sandstones are used in the construction. Hawa Mahal has
achieved a distinguished image and iconic representation of the pink city of
Jaipur. This palace is the shape of crown of Krishna and is named so because
of its numerous windows in form of honeycomb structure. The palace is a 5
storeyed structure which has total 953 windows which enables the royal
ladies to watch the outside streets of palace without being seen from out.
The unique feature of the palace is the air ducts design which allows air to
pass like venturi leaving a cool breeze giving air conditioning effect.
Jantar Mantar
Jantar Mantar of Jaipur
Year of construction – 1724 to 1735
Built by – Maharaja Jai Singh II
There are total 5 Jantar Mantars which were built by Maharaja Jai Singh of of
Jaipur. The locations of these Jantar Mantar are New Delhi, Mathura, Jaipur,
Ujjain and Varanasi. The Jantar Mantar of Jaipur is the largest one which
houses world’s largest stone Sun dial and is also defined as a World Heritage
site. These Jantar Mantar are basically astronomical observatory containing
of a number of scientific instruments related to astronomy. These
instruments measure the time of day as per the position of sun in sky. These
devices were used to study the position of planets with respect to sun,
calculations related to astronomical tables etc.
Qutub Minar