Mughal Architecture
The Mughal style was an agglomeration of various styles, partly foreign and partly indigenous. The early Mughals liked and followed the Persian styles, but the successors of Akbar did not. Their style was more sumptuous and decorative than the style that preceded it and in delicacy and ornamentation furnished a striking contrast to the art of pre-Mughal days.
Babur
He held a very poor opinion about Indian architecture which he came across at Delhi and Agra. He wanted to raise beautiful buildings of his own choice. For this purpose he invited foreign architects. Out of many, buildings of Babur the two that survive are a mosque in the Kablibagh at Panipat and the other Jama Masjid at Sambhal in Ruhelkhand.
Humayun
Humayun led a life of stress and strain, yet he found time to erect two mosques. Din-Panah is his palace at Delhi.
Akbar
In l569 Akbar laid the foundation of the city of Fatehpur Sikri and constructed a number of buildings there. The most important buildings at Fatehpur are Buland Darvaza and Jama Masjid. The former Is the highest gateway in India measuring 176 feet and built to commemorate Akbar’s victory over Gujarat. The gate is in the style of what Is called a half dome portal. The tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti is another important building here, besides House of Birbal; House of the Princes of Amber, Sonhala Makan and the Diwan-i-Khas. Dr. Smith beautifully remarks that Fatehpur as “a romance in stone".
At Agra, the Agra Fort was constructed under his personal supervision. There are two gateways called Delhi Gate and Amar Singh Gate. He also constructed Lahore Fort, Akbar’s mausoleum at Sikandara whose construction was started by the king himself but was completed by Jahangir is modeled on Buddhist Viharas.
Jahangir
He was more interested In painting than architecture The two most important buildings of his time are the Tomb of Akbar and the Tomb of ltimad-ud-daulah. The latter was built by Nur Jahan over the grave of her lather. It is built of white marbles and Is one of the earliest buildings to be decorated with pietra dura or a method of decorating the walls with floral designs made of semi-precious stones.
Shah Jahan
He was the most prolific builder and architectural art reached its zenith during his reign. His most important buildings in Delhi are Diwan-i-Am, Diwan-i-Khas and Jama Masjid. The Diwan-i-Khas is highly decorative and Shah Jahan himself called it "Paradise on Earth”. The Moti Masjid at Agra Is regarded as the ‘purest and loveliest house of prayer“. It is made entirely of marble like the Taj. The Taj is regarded as the apex of Mughal architectural art. Its master architect was Ustad Isa. It took 22 years to complete and has been described as “a dream in marble".
Aurungzeb
He was not much interested in architecture. In I669, he built a mosque; in 1674 he constructed the Badshahi mosque at Lahore, but it is a poor imitation of the older model.
Mughal Literatrue:
| Book | Author |
|---|---|
| Humayun Namah | Gulbadan Begum |
| Ain-i-Akbari | Abul Fazal |
| Akbar Namah | Abul Fazal |
| Twarikh-i-Alfi | Mulla Daud |
| Tabaqat-i-Akbari | Nizamuddin Ahmad |
| Thzuki-i-Jahangeri | Jahangir |
| Iqbal Namah | Mutamaid Khan |
| Badshah Namah | Abdul Hamid Lahuri and also by Muhammad Warish |
| Shanhjahan Namah | Inayat-Khan and also by Muhammad Salih |
| Sakinet-ul-Aubia Hasanat-ul-Afrin and Majma-ul-Bahrin |
Dara Sukoh |
| Raqqat-i-Alamgiri | Aurangzeb |
| Muntakhab-ul-lubab | Khaï¬ Khan |
| Alamgir Namah | Mirza Muhammad Kazim |
| Nuskha-i-Dilkhus | Bhimsen |
| Futuhat-i-Alamgiri | Ishwar Das |
Mughal Painting
It is a combination of various elements partly foreign, partly Persian and partly Indian.
Under Babur and Humayun:
Unfortunately no painting of Baburi line has been found. Humayun developed a great taste for painting during his exile in Persia. When he came back to India. He brought him with two skillful persian painters: Mir Saiyyed All and Khwaja Abdus samad. They illustrated Dastan-i-Amir Mamzah. Indeed these two proteges of Humayun formed the nucleus of the Mughal school of painting which came in prominence in Akbar's reign. So, Humayun may be considered the original founder of the Mughal School of painting.
Under Akbar
The chief painters in his court were Abdus Samad, Mir Saiyyed Ali and Farrukh Beig. Among Hindu painters were Jaswant, Darawan, Tara Chand and Jagannath. Akbar got illustrated not only of Persian texts, but also of Mahabharata and Ramayana and his historical work Akbar Nama. In fact, Akbar laid down the foundation of Mughal miniature paintings, but it was Jahangir who gave it maturity.
Under Jahangir
Mughal painting reached its climax under Jahangir who had a very discriminating eye and claimed that he could identify the hands of several artists in a composite picture. Apart from painting hunting, battle and court-scenes, under Jahangir new direction was made in portrait painting and printings of animals. Mansur was the great name in this ï¬eld who excelled in painting birds.
Under Shan Jahan
He was more interested in architecture than painting. Percy Brown observes “with his (Jahangir's) passing, the soul of Mughal painting also departed" But Dara Shikoh was a patron of the pictorial art as is testiï¬ed by his precious album preserved in the Library of India Office.
Related Questions
1. Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks..'Which Mughal king had recorded this in his memoirs? -- View Answer
2. The first Indian ruler to organise Haj pilgrimage at the expense of the state was : -- View Answer
3. Who amongst the following lost the kingdom in Hindustan but retrieved it after 15 years in exile? -- View Answer
4. The coin rupia was first issued by : -- View Answer
5. Who was the ruler of medieval India who is credited with the building of the Grand Trunk Road? -- View Answer
6. Since ages the women of Maharashtra have proved themselves equal to men on battlefield. Famous Chandbibi of Ahmednagar fought to protect her kingdom against : -- View Answer
7. Who was the Afghan ruler of India whose administrative system was emulated by the British? -- View Answer
8. About whom it was said 'He was a fortunate soldier but not an able Empire builder"? -- View Answer
9. Akbar founded his own religion known as 'Din-i-Ilahi' which means : -- View Answer
10. Which of the following is correctly matched? -- View Answer
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1. Akbar2. Aurangzeb
3. Babur
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5. Humayun
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7. Mughal Administration
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