ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

IN INDIA
l
 ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA

Islamic architecture in India are classified into 3 main

categories:
• Imperial Style of Delhi Sultanate
• Provincial style :Punjab,Bengal,Rajastan,hyderabad etc
• Mughal Style (golden period)
Delhi /Imperial style may be divided
into five phases :

•Slave dynasty (AD 1206-1246)

•Khilji Dynasty (AD 1290-1320)

•Tughlaq Dynasty (AD 1320-1413)

•Sayyid Dynasty (AD 1414-1444)

•Lodi Dynasty (AD 1451-1557

Mughal style may be divided into six
phases :

•Babur (AD 1526-31)

•Humayun (AD 1531-56)

•Akbar (AD 1556-1605)

•Jahangir (AD 1605-27)

•Shahjahan (AD 1658-1707)

•Aurangzebe (AD 1658-1707)

S •History of Islamic architecture in
India begins with the establishment of
L Slave dynasty /Mamluk dynasty at
A Delhi by Qutub –ud-din –aibak in 1192
AD.
V
E The major rulers of slave dynasty:
D
•Qutab ud din Aibak (1206-1210 AD)
Y •Iltumish (1211-1236 AD)
•Razia begum (1236-1239 AD)
N •Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266-1286
A AD).

S Contributions by Qutab-ud- din

Aibak:
T
•Quwat-ul-islam mosque,Delhi
Y •Qutub minar,Delhi
•Arhai-din –ka-Jhompra,Ajmer
QUWAT-UL-ISLAM MOSQUE (Might of Islam) 1195 AD

IRON PILLAR

•The first mosque in India constructed by Qutab-ud- din Aibak

 TOMB OF ILTUMISH

QUTUB MINAR
ALAI MINAR

QUWATUL ISLAM
MOSQUE

ALAI DARWAZA

THE QUTUB COMPLEX

 •The mosque originally consisted
of a rectangular court 43.2 m by
33 m,(141’x105’) enclosed by
colonnaded cloisters
•The columns are part of various
Hindu & Jain temples

•Stone screen of 5 arches in front of sanctuary defines

the quibla
•Ogee shaped arches, made by corbelled stones-inspired
by Buddhist chaitya arch
•With in the mosque complex is the Iron Pillar, which
dates back to 4th century AD
•Surface of the screen has
Arabesque ornamentation -carved
inscriptions

•Serpentine forms & sinuous

curves with floral motifs-show the
influence of Hindu craftsmen
•The pillar bears an inscription, which states that it was
erected as a flagstaff in honor of the Hindu god, Vishnu,
and in the memory of the Gupta King Chandragupta II
(BC375-413).
•The pillar also highlights ancient India's achievements
in metallurgy. The pillar is made of 98 per cent wrought
iron and has stood 1,600 years without rusting or
decomposing.
THE QUTUB MINAR (1199AD)
•King Qutub-ud-din Aibak of Slave dynasty
laid the foundation of the Qutab Minar in 1199
and completed by the sultan's successor and
son-in-law, Iltumish
•The building is 72.5 m(238ft) high and has 379
steps from the bottom to the top
•The first three storeys are made of red
sandstone and are heavily indented with
different styles of fluting, alternately round and
angular on the bottom floor, round on the
second and angular on the third.
•The fourth and fifth floors are made of marble
and sandstone
•The intricate balconies held together by
stalactite vaulting technique and patterned with
honey combing is a special feature of the minar
•The surface decoration of the Qutab Minar is
consistently Islamic in character
•The minar has survived a series of lightening
bolts and earthquakes during the past centuries

•Qutub-Axis minar: Symbol of power & supremacy

238’ TALL RED SAND STONE STRUCTURE
TRIANGULAR FLUTING

ROUND FLUTING

STELLATE FLUTING
•Numerous inscriptions in Arabic and Nagari
characters are seen as wide encircling bands
in the plain fluted masonry of the Minar. This
inscriptions reveal the history of Qutub, from
its commencement in AD1199 to its repairs in
between..

•Muqarnas or stalactite vaulting technique is

used for supporting the balconies
Muqarnas in Islamic Architecture

A unique feature of Islamic

architecture, 'muqarnas' is an
Arabic word to describe a
'stalactite vault',

•the complex geometric interlacing of

components to produce a three-
dimensional surface that was used both
for volume and ornamentation. It was
developed in the mid 10th century and
was later adopted throughout the Islamic
world.
Muqarnas from the Sultan Hassan Mosque, Cairo
ARHAI DIN KA JHOMPRA (1205 AD)
•The mosque was built in yellow
sandstone and masonry taken from
local Hindu and Jain temples.
•The ceiling of the arcades and
prayer hall are supported by triple-
height colonnades composed of
three Hindu or Jain pillars placed
one on top of each other to create a
single pillar.

•The Arhai-din-ka-Jhonpra Mosque (or Hut of Two

and a Half Days was begun in c.1200 by Qutb-ud-
Din Aybak (r.1206-1210), Sultan of Delhi, and
completed by his successor, Shams-ud-Din
Iltutmish (r.1211-1236).
•The mosque has a monumental façade of seven
arches that was added by Iltutmish in about 1230.
AJMER SCREEN
SULTAN GHARI (1231 AD)

•The first tomb bldg in India built by

Iltutmish for his son Nasir-ud-din
Mohammed
•Sultan Ghari or 'Sultan of the Cave‘
since the cenotaph is located in an
underground chamber
•Square courtyard 60’x60’with octagonal
platform in the centre
•This platform was surrounded by a
square masonry arcade on a high plinth
•Under the platform is the subterranian
crypt
•The western structure forms a miniature
mosque sanctuary with a mihrab& a
shallow pyramidal roof above.
•It has well proportioned fluted pillars in
Hindu style with bracketed capitals.
•The octagonal platform above was
probably intended to support a pillared
pavilion, the whole of which has
disappeared or was never built.

•The exterior is built in grey granite with

circular bastions projecting from
corners

•These together with the domed

parapets on the corners make the
tomb look more like a fortress
TOMB OF ILTUTMISH (1235 AD)

•The tomb of Iltutmish, completed

shortly before his death, stands just
outside of his own extensions to the
Quwwat ul Islam mosque, at its
northwestern corner.
• It is square in plan, and was once
covered by a shallow Hindu-style
dome, since collapsed.
•The cenotaph stands at the center of
the tomb.
•Lavish carvings in red sandstone
decorate the interior, with a
combination of Hindu motifs, such as
lotus flowers and bells on chains, as
well as Koranic inscriptions.
•Three prayer niches on the western
wall of the chamber indicate the
direction to Mecca.
‘Sqiunch’ system for supporting the dome-
1st time in india
TOMB OF BALBAN (1280 AD)

•Tomb of Giasuddin Balban

•Small & unattractive edifice, but a major
landmark in indo-Islamic architecture
•Square domed chamber 30’x30’ with an
archway on each sides
•For the first time in India, a true arch with
radiating voussoirs was constructed

•By this time Delhi became a major city, seat

of Power & a centre of learning & attracted
people from different parts of the world

•Craftmen & artists from central asian & west

asian Islamic countries came to Delhi & there
was an exchange of ideas & techniques with
local craftsmen

•Resulted in the further evoilution of a new

Indo-Islamic architecture
K
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The sultans of the Slave Dynasty were
Turkic central Asians, but the members of
the new dynasty, although they were also
Turkic, had settled in Afghanistan and
brought a new set of customs and culture
to Delhi

The Khilji dynasty was named after a

village in Afghanistan. Some historians feel
that they were Afghans, but Bharani and
Wolse Haig have mentioned in their
accounts that the rulers from this dynasty
who came to India had temporarily settled
in Afghanistan, but were originally Turks
ALAI DARWAZA (1311 AD)
•Described as one of the most treasured
gems of Islamic architecture, this gate built
by Alauddin Khalji in 1311AD.

•This gateway formed the main access

through the southern wall to the enlarged
Quwwat Ul islam mosque.

•It is the first building employing whole

islamic principles of acurate construction
and geometric ornamentation.

•The darwaza is a square, domed

building with intricate carvings in red
sandstone and marble.
•In form the Darwaza is a rectangular
building on high plinth into which steps
have been cut to access the interior.
•the most imposing feature of these
facades is the central arch, rising to
nearly the whole height of the structure.
In shape it is rare - a horse-shoe or keel
arch.
•The intrados or the inner rim of the arch
shows its most distinctive feature - a fringe of
lotus-bud carving or spear headed
carving.

•The plinth is carved in bands, and the wall

surface above is divided into two stories,
each further subdivided into rectangular
panels.

•The first innovation in the gateway was the

system of walling, alternating between one
course of stretchers - stone laid with its longer
ends facing outward - and one course of
headers - stone laid with its longer end going
deep into the wall

•The second innovation was the true arch

•The inner facade, facing the mosque and

Qutb Minar, is different. The opening is not a
keel arch but a true semi-circular one
JAMAAT KHANA MASJID

•rectangular in plan and the façade consists

three broad arched openings, each archway
having a wide band of inscription above and the
fringe of spear heads attached to its interiors
•The three exterior archways indicate the triple
formation of the building as it is in three
conjoined compartments, each roofed with a
shallow dome