110: DISSERTATION- INDIAN ART AND CRAFTS

RESEARCH TOPICS

DAUHA FARIDI

B.ARCH FIRST YEAR DAY

AR110: DISSERTATION

28.03.2022
 1. ART AND CRAFT UNDER THE MAMLUKS

The Bahri reign defined the art and architecture of the entire Mamluk period. Prosperity generated by the east-west trade in silks and spices supported the Mamluks’
generous patronage. Despite periods of internal struggle, there was tremendous artistic and architectural activity, developing techniques established by the Ayyubids and
integrating influences from different parts of the Islamic world. Refugees from east and west contributed to the momentum. Mamluk decorative arts—especially
enameled and gilded glass, inlaid metalwork, woodwork, and textiles—were prized around the Mediterranean as well as in Europe, where they had a profound impact on
local production. The influence of Mamluk glassware on the Venetian glass industry is only one such example.

The Burji Mamluk sultans followed the artistic traditions established by their Bahri predecessors. Although the state was faced with its greatest external and internal
threats in the early fifteenth century, including the devastation of the eastern Mediterranean provinces by the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane; r. 1370–1405),
as well as famine, plague, and civil strife in Egypt, patronage of art and architecture resumed. Mamluk textiles and carpets were prized in international trade. In
architecture, endowed public and pious foundations continued to be favored. Major commissions in the early Burji period in Egypt included the complexes built by Barquq
(r. 1382–99), Faraj (r. 1399–1412), Mu’ayyad Shaikh (r. 1412–21), and Barsbay (r. 1422–37).

In the second half of the fifteenth century, the arts thrived under the patronage of Qa’itbay (r. 1468–96), the greatest of the later Mamluk sultans. During his reign, the
shrines of Mecca and Medina were extensively restored. Major cities were endowed with commercial buildings, religious foundations, and bridges. In Cairo, the complex
of Qa’itbay in the Northern Cemetery (1472–74) is the best known and admired structure of this period. Apart from his own patronage, Qaitbay encouraged high-ranking
officials and influential amirs to build as well.

Building continued under the last Mamluk sultan, Qansuh al-Ghawri (r. 1501–17), who commissioned his own complex (1503–5); however, construction methods reflected
the finances of the state. At this time, the Portuguese were gaining control of the Indian Ocean and barring the Mamluks from trade, their richest source of revenue.
Though the Mamluk realm was soon incorporated into the Ottoman empire (1517), Mamluk visual culture continued to inspire Ottoman and other Islamic artistic
traditions
 2. ART AND CRAFT OF TIMURIDS

Timurid art and architecture provided inspiration to lands stretching from Anatolia to India. Though Timur’s extensive empire itself was relatively short-lived, his
descendants continued to rule over Transoxiana as leading patrons of Islamic art. Through their patronage, the eastern Islamic world became a prominent cultural center,
with Herat, the new Timurid capital, as its focal point. Timurid rulers were sympathetic to Persian culture and lured artists, architects, and men of letters who would
contribute to their high court culture. Some of these rulers were also great patrons of the arts of the book, commissioning manuscripts that were copied, compiled, and
illustrated in their libraries. Due to the flourishing of manuscript illumination and illustration, the Herat school is often regarded as the apogee of Persian painting. The
Timurid period saw great achievements in other luxury arts, such as metalwork and jade carving. This cultural efflorescence found its ultimate expression at the court of
Sultan Husain Baiqara (r. 1470–1506), the last effective Timurid ruler.

Many Timurid princes were also prodigious builders—religious institutions and foundations such as mosques, madrasas, khanqahs (convents), and Sufi shrines were the
main beneficiaries of their building programs. Major architectural commissions from Timur’s lifetime include the Aq Saray Palace (Shahr-I Sabz, ca. 1379–96); the shrine of
Ahmad Yasavi (Turkestan City, ca. 1397); Timur’s congregational mosque (Samarqand, ca. 1398–1405), popularly known as the mosque of Bibi Khanum after his wife, who
built a madrasa next to it; and the Gur-I Amir (Samarqand, ca. 1400–1404), Timur’s burial place. Trademarks of the Timurid style were monumental scale, multiple
minarets, polychromy tilework, and large bulbous double domes. The Timurid period also witnessed women as active patrons of architecture. Along with their immediate
successors, the Shaibanids, the Timurid cultural tradition was also partly carried on by the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires