INDO ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

• The Ghurid Dynasty, being the first Islamic empire to hold

any important amount of land within India, began the
fusion of Islamic and native Indian architectural styles.
• The Qutb Minar, which was begun in 1192 in Delhi by Qutb-
ud-din Aibak was designed to show the power and glory of
the new Islamic rulers.
• Iltutmish completed the tower and extended the Jami
Masjid, the main masjid in Dehli.
• The design of the Qutb Minar and the courtyard around the
Jami Masjid show influence of native Indian floral motifs
and ornaments, with Quranic verses in Arabic imposed on
them
 Characteristic Features

• Islamic architectural invention

concentrates in three major
constructions,
–the mosques or masjids,
–tombs and
–the palaces.
• The most important factors common to both forms of
architecture, especially in respect of mosques and temples,
were that to both styles, ornamental decoration was very
vital and that the open court in many cases was surrounded
by colonnades.
• But the contrast was equally striking: the prayer chamber
of the mosque was spacious, whereas the shrine of the
temple was comparatively small.
• The mosque was light and open, whereas the temple was
dark and closed. The difference between the lay-out of a
temple and a mosque is explained by the essential
difference between the Hindu and Muslim forms of
worship and prayer.
• A cell to house the image of the deity, garbha-griha, and often small halls in front
for the worshippers was regarded adequate for a simple Hindu temple. But the
Islamic form of worship, with its emphasis on congregational prayer, requires a
spacious courtyard with a large prayer hall, pointed towards Mecca, as its western
end that is, to the West of India.
• In the rear wall of the prayer-hall, the centre is occupied by a recess or alcove,
called mihrab; and indicates the direction of prayer (quibla- The direction of the
Kaaba (the sacred building at Mecca), to which Muslims turn at prayer.). A pulpit
(mimber) at its right is meant for the imam who leads the prayer. A tower or
minaret, originally intended for the muazzin to call the faithful to the prayer, later
assumed a mere architectural character.
• A gallery or compartment of the prayer hall or some other part was screened off to
accommodate the ladies who observed purdah. The main entrance to a mosque is
on the east, and the sides are enclosed by cloisters (liwans). A tank is provided for
ablutions usually in the courtyard of a mosque.
• The Muslim style of construction was based on arches, vaults and domes,
on columns and pyramidal towers or slender spires, called trabeate.
• The style of construction incorporated not only certain new modes and
principles but reflected also the religious and social needs of the Muslims.
• In the Hindu style of construction spaces were spanned corbels, held
together by making courses project, each further than the one below, so
that the open span was gradually reduced to a size which could be
covered with a single slab or brick.
• Although there exists some evidence to suggest that the true arch may
have been known in India earlier, it is the Muslims who are believed to
have brought the principle of building a true arch so as to hold up the roof
or ceiling or a top part of a structure, the bricks or stones laid to
reproduce a curve, held together by the key-stone on the top of the rise.
• The result was that flat lintels or corbelled
ceilings were replaced by arches or vaults, and
the pyramidal roof or spire by the dome. The
necessity of raising a round dome over a
square construction introduced multiplication
of sides and angles by providing squinches so
that a base with many sides usually 16, could
be obtained to raise a circular drum for the
dome.
• A sunshade or balcony was laid on cantilever brackets fixed into the
projection from the walls, which introduced the chajja (caves or
sunshade). The practice of the burial of the dead, as distinct from
the cremation practised by the Hindus, chamber, a mihrab in the
western wall and the real grave (qabr) in an underground chamber.
In larger and more complex tombs, there is also a mosque, and well
planned garden. The mode, theme or motifs or ornamentation
employed in Islamic buildings also made a departure from the
earlier vogues. The Hindu style or ornamentation is largely
naturalistic showing human and animal forms and the luxuriant
vegetation life. As among the Muslims the representation of living
beings was taboo by way of decoration or ornamentation, they
introduced geometrical and arabesque patterns, ornamental
writing and formal representation of plant and floral life.
• They also introduced gilding and painting in
varied colours and designs.
• Muslim decorative elements are usually of the
nature of embroidery. Even though lime was known
and to certain extent used in construction work in
India fairly early, mud was generally used for brick
work and large blocks of stones were laid one on top
of the other and held by means of iron clamps. The
Muslims, like the Romans, were also responsible for
making extensive use of concrete and lime mortar as
an important factor of construction and incidentally
used lime as plaster and a base for decoration which
was incised into it and held enamel work on tiles.
 Glossary
• The Iiwan or iwan on the Mecca side is expanded
and elaborated into a pillared hall forming the
sanctuary with the wall at the back containing in
elegant foliated arch shaped niche called 'mihrab
showing 'qibla' or the direction for prayer. At the
right side of mihrab a pulpit or 'mimbar' is
provided with a reading desk 'dikka' from which
the priest or 'imam' reads 'Koran'. A portion of
the sanctuary is enclosed by a screen (maqsure)
forming a compartment for women (zenana).
 Madrassah:

• It is a Collegiate Mosque containing lecture

halls, library, and residences for students and
teachers in addition to the mosque for prayer.
 Rauza:

• It is a large mausoleum which also includes a

mosque as a separate building. It is contained
within a spacious square enclosure the entire
forming an attractive garden called Rauza after
the garden ar-Rauza in the Prophet's Mosque at
Medina.
• The tomb or Kabristan consists of single
compartment or huzrah or estanah and covered
with a dome. The underground chamber is called
'maqbarah' or taikhana with the grave of 'qubr' in
the centre.
 Dargah
• These are important
tombs of nobles
and occasionally
called as Dargah in
India-derived from
a Persian word
meaning a court
palace.
 Khans

• These are the inns or serais where travellers

took rest. It is a two-storeyed building-the
ground floor for stabling camels and the first
floor, for residences of the travellers.
 The Pointed Arch
• Another important feature of this style is the
pointed arch which is the architecture symbol
of hands joined in prayer pointing towards
heaven or Mecca indicating that all the things
in the Universe meet in only one-the Allah.
• The arch spandrels usually consist of a voluted bracket
holding a medallion-one very prominent pat ten
commonly adopted. The types of arches used are:
1. Two-centred pointed arch Four-centred pointed arch
2. Ogee arch and
3. Multi-centred pointed arch.
• These are commonly used over door and window
openings with beautiful marble tracery (quamariya) in
mosques and wooden tracery (mashrabiya) in houses.
Harmonious combinations of arches, cornices, foliated
parapets were disposed in an artistic form.
 The Dome
• Another important feature of this style is the dome
symbolizing the arch of heaven which is invariably used
in mosques and tombs. The dome is built in brick and
stone and the plastered surfaces are decorated with
intricate geometric patterns. Fluted or ribbed domes
are common in Persia and India.
• The architectural features
introduced by them
mention may be made of
arches,
domes, minars and
minarets, the pendentive,
squinch arch, half domed
double portals,
kiosks (chhatris) and the
use of concrete as a
factor of construction.
 Arabesque:

• Representation of any human

or natural form is prohibited by
the Islamic usage, so surface
decoration is mainly confined
to fanciful intertwining of
ornamental work called
'Arabesque'. (The Arabic word
for Arabesque is 'Tauriq'
meaning foliage). It is entirely
an Islamic form of decoration
and formed with intricate
geometric and stylised design
or vegetal form such as vine-
leaf, rosette, natural flowers
and stems.
• The geometric designs
are inlaid in coloured
glazed tiling, painting,
mosaic and inlay arts.
Though animation was
prohibited, they used
'tughras' or the animal
figures formed by
Arabic letters, mainly
verses from the Koran.
This art gradually
became an important
branch of 'Calligraphy'.
They also used animal
motifs for decoration
such as deer,
elephants, lions etc.
 Jami Masjid
• It is a Friday (Juma‟h) prayer mosque, a place
of prostration or 'namaj'. It has a large open
court (Sahn) surrounded by arcades or
colonnades (liwan) to ensure protection from
severe heat of the sun with a fountain or tank
in the centre for ablution.
2nd Lecture
Pre Mughal Architecture
 Qutub Minar Delhi (1195)
• The first Emperor of the Slave Dynasty Qutub-
ud-din Aibak constructed it as a part of the
Qutub Mosque. It is a monumental tower built
to proclaim to the world the authority and
prestige of Islam. It is the largest minar in the
world
• The top of the tower gives an insight to Delhi which gives
the bird's eye view of the city.
• To point a few sight seeing from the top, you will find views
of the Hauz Khaz on the left and the walls of the
Jahanpanah and Siri on the right.
• It was this very top of Qutab Minar that was used by Khilji
and Tughlaq kings to watch the wild Mongol hordes when
they threatened Delhi.
• The top also served as the watch top for Tughlaq who
watched Timur's army camp on the Wellingdon Airport.
Other important monuments that is visible from the top are
the walls of Tughlaqabad, Humayun's Tomb, Purana Qila,
Firoz Shah Kotla and Jama Masjid.
• Qutub means a pole and so it is therefore
rightly described as "Pivot of Justice and
Faith”. It is built in red sand stone and stands
73m high with 14m in diameter at base which
gradually diminishes to hardly 3 m at top.
• The Qutub Minar is made of fluted red sandstone covered with
intricate carvings and verses from the Qur'an. Numerous
inscriptions in Parso-Arabic and Nagari characters in different
sections of the Qutub Minar reveal the history of its construction.
• It consists of four stories in changing texture, the
first storey has stellate of wedges shaped flanges,
with alternate round flutes second storey has
circular projections, the third is star-shaped but the
forth is simply circular and was composed of circular
kiosks with domical roof at top. An additional storey
was built as renovations, at later dates. It has a
doorway from which a spiral staircase is built for
climbing 239 steps till the top. The projecting
balconies in each storey are supported by means of
stalactite bracketing a unique method adopted in
this style. Here it is shaped in the form of a number
of small arches with brackets in between,
supporting the balcony above with balustrade in
the form of merlons called kanjuras.
• The imposing towering mass in
red sand stone, the fluted-storeys
with projecting balconies, casting
deep shadows appears to be
solidly planted on the ground and
produces the effect of strength
and stability.
• The inscriptions carved on its
surface are still clean and bold
even though they are centuries
old. The inscriptions clearly
indicate that it was built 'to cast
the shadow of Allah over the East
and the West'.
• With the Base Diameter of 14.3 meters and
the Top Diameter of 2.7 meters a total of 379
steps are required to climb to the top.
Unfortunately, after an incident in the 1980s
where power failure resulted in a stampede
inside, members of the public are no longer
allowed to climb the Qutub Minar.
• Over the years the Qutub Minar has seen its
fair share of problems with the top being
damaged by lightening at one time, and
structural damage due to earthquakes over
time. Thankfully, it has been repaired as and
when the damage occurred and as a result it
remains a marvel for generations to see.
• The complex also houses
the Iron Pillar which has
had an interesting theory
attached to it. It is said
that if a person were to
stand with his back to the
pillar and then manage to
wrap his/her hands
around it, then their wish
will come true.
Unfortunately, due to the
effect the "oily" hands
were having on the pillar,
it has now been cornered
off.
Char Minar, Hyderabad (Deccan)
(1591)
• It was built by Sultan Mohammad Quli Shah to
commemorate the end of the dreaded
epidemic plague.
• He is said to have prayed for the end of a
plague that was ravaging his city and vowed to
build a masjid (Islamic mosque) at the very
place where he was praying.
• Built in Tajaya style, this majestic building symbolises
the victory over time. It is based on a square plan
measuring 30m side length with four minars (from
which it has derived its name) soaring high in the sky to
a height of 57 m.

• There are four arch ways of 11 m span one on each

side with three storeys one above the other
diminishing in sizes. The first storey contains small-
arcaded triforium, the second one has small arches
while the top one has perforated balustrades on all its
sides.
• The Charminar was constructed by Qutb Shah,
who had also laid its foundation, The monument
was intended to serve as a Mosque and
Madraasa. Mir Momin Astarabadi, the prime
minister of Qutb Shah was played a leading role
to prepare the layout plan for the Charminar
along with the new capital city (Hyderabad),[the
additional eminent architects from Persia were
also invited to develop the city plan. the structure
is of Indo-Islamic architecture style,
incorporating Persian architectural elements in
the structure.
DETAILINGS
ARCHES IN CHARMINAR
 Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur (1626-1656)
• Gol Gombadh meaning "rose dome", (a reference
to the flower/rose/lotus petals that surround the
dome at its base, making it appear as a budding
rose)-- is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil
Shah, Sultan of Bijapur.
• The tomb, located in Bijapur, Karnataka in India,
was completed in 1656 by the architect Yaqut of
Dabul. Although "impressively simple in design",
it is the "structural triumph
of Deccan architecture".
• The structure is composed of a cube, 47.5 metres (156 ft)
on each side, capped by a dome 44 m (144 ft) in external
diameter. "Eight intersecting arches created by two rotated
squares that create interlocking pendentives" support the
dome.
• At each of the four corners of the cube, is a dome-capped
octagonal tower seven stories high with a staircase inside.
The upper floor of each opens on to a round gallery which
surrounds the dome. Inside the mausoleum hall, is a square
podium with steps on each side. In the middle of the
podium, a cenotaph slab on the ground marks the actual
grave below, "the only instance of this practice" in the
architecture of the Adil Shahi Dynasty.
• Running around the inside of the dome is the "Whispering Gallery"
where even the softest sound can be heard on the other side of the
mausoleum due to the acoustics of the space. It is said that the
Sultan, Ibraheem Adil Shah and his Queen used to converse in the
same manner.
• During his time, the musicians used to sing, seated in the
whispering gallery so that the sound produced could reach every
corner of the hall. In the hall below the whispering gallery, dancers
provided entertainment. At a height of 33.22 m from the floor of
the hall, projects a 3.25 m wide gallery, all round the inner
periphery of the dome. This gallery is called the ‘Whispering
Gallery’, because even the finest whisper or sound made in it is
heard from side to side and even a single loud clap is distinctly
echoed over ten times.
• It consists of one chamber
of stupendous proportions
42 m x 42 m measuring a
floor area of Page127

• 1764 sq-m and rises to a

height of 55 m. It is like the
Pantheon at Rome and St.
Sophia at Istanbul in size
and magnificence. The
lofty walls, over 3 m thick,
of the square chamber are
buttressed up by
octagonal towers of 7.5 m
diameter and the whole
surmounted by a gigantic
hemispherical dome,
which is not supported by
a pillar or pier at any point
• The most remarkable feature of this structure is that
the dome is supported on a gallery formed by
intersecting arches, a system devised to balance the
outward thrust of the dome.
• The arches are skilfully arranged within the sides of a
square plan with their plane of surface at an angle, so
that their points of intersection produced an octagonal
cornice which supports the base of the dome with a
projecting gallery 3.35 m wide hanging in the interior
of the dome at 33.5 m above the ground floor.
• This is the world famous 'Whispering Gallery' of the
Gol Gumbaz or Round dome. The internal diameter of
the dome is 38 m while the external diameter is 44m
with a band of conventional petals at its base, and
crowned with metal finial or guldasta‟.
• The dome is built by a system of corbelled
horizontal course of monoblock of concrete
reinforced with brick without the help of
temporary support or centring. There are six
small openings made in the thickness of the
fluted drum from which entrance is made to
the whispering gallery that creates awe and
amazement in the mind of the visitor. A single
clap is echoed about 8-10 times.
 Ibrahim Rauza, Bijapur (1626).
• It was built by the engineer Malik Sandal of
Iran on the orders of Ibrahim Adil Shah II.
• It is large mausoleum which also includes a
mosque as a separate building all within a
spacious enclosure of about 137 m square
containing an immense square garden (ur-
Rauza).
• The main tomb building of 35 m square stands
on a terrace 110 m long and 46 m wide on the
eastern side while the mosque is situated
opposite to it on western side with an
elaborate tank and fountain in between them.
The tomb and mosque are so skilfully
constructed that they are both well balanced
in style.
• The mausoleum building
has a central chamber with
an arched veranda, there
being seven arches on each
side. Over these projects a
wide and deep cornice and
brackets. Above the middle
of the mausoleum rises the
square arcaded clerestory
supporting the dome which
is enriched with foliation at
its base while at its top has
a three-tiered metal finial
crowned by a moon‟s
crescent.
• There are tall minarets which rise 25 m high from
each angle of the building carrying shapely
bulbous dome at the top.
• A richly battlemented parapet with pretty
ornamented turrets built at regular intervals
connects the four tall minarets. "
• The outer surface of the tomb is full of exquisitely
carved designs and the walls are profusely
enriched with conventional arabesque, and
exquisitely calligraphy of the Quran.