Dictionary of islamic architecture

particular sources, partly because earlier Indian
Islamic architecture contains both Hindu and Islamic

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Mughals
elements. What is clear, however, is that Mughal
architecture does incorporate many elements from
local Hindu architecture, in particular the art of the
Rajput palaces. Distinctive Hindu features
incorporated into Mughal architecture include
trabeate stone construction, richly orna-mented
carved piers and columns, and shallow arches made
out of corbels rather than voussoirs. In addition
there are particular constructions usually associated
with Hindu buildings, including chatris, chajjas and
jarokhas, which became characteristic of Mughal
architecture. A chatri is a domed kiosk resting on
pillars which in Hindu architecture is used as a
cenotaph but in Islamic architecture is placed as
decoration on top of mosques, palaces and tombs.
A chatri is a sloping stone overhang at roof level,
used to deflect rain water away from the walls of a
building and usually supported on heavy carved
corbels. A jarokha is a projecting balcony supported
on corbels with a hood resting on columns. Whilst
all of these features may be paralleled elsewhere in
Islam, the particular form which they assume in
Mughal architecture shows a clear derivation from
local Hindu architecture. In addition to Hindu
features there are some elements derived from the
pre-existing Islamic architecture of India. The best
example is the curved do-chala roof derived from
Bengali huts which was first used in this stone form
in the sultanate architecture of Bengal. Another
Indo-Islamic feature is the cusped arch which can
be found in the pre-Mughal architecture of Delhi
and Gujarat.
Obvious Persian influences in Mughal
architecture are the extensive use of tilework, the
iwan as a central feature in mosques, the use of
domes, the charbagh, or garden, divided into four
and the four-centrepoint arch. The form of buildings
and some of the decorative motifs also suggests
obvious Persian influence.
The materials used for Mughal architecture
varies widely depending on the region and the
type of construction. As with most other areas,
many of the original buildings have not survived
because they were made of less permanent
materials such as wood, as well as having been
subject to deliberate destruction as a result of wars
or rebuilding. However, the material which stands
out as characteristic of Mughal architecture is the
use of a hard, deep-red sandstone. This material
is very strong under compression and so can be
used for trabeate construction where roofs are
made of flat stone slabs supported on stone
columns. When domes were built these were
sometimes constructed in the Persian tradition
using squinches or pendentives, but more
commonly they rested on horizontal flat beams
laid over the corners of the structure. Despite its
strength and hardness the Indian masons trained
in the Hindu tradition of building ornate temples
were able to carve this sandstone with intricate
details as seen in the columns of the Jami Masjid
in Delhi. White marble is the other type of stone
often associated with Mughal architecture. It is
first used in conjunction with red sandstone as a
stone cladding for the front of monumental
buildings such as the tomb of Humayun in Delhi
where it is used as an inlay and outline for the red
sandstone ground. Later, during the reign of Shah
Jahan in the seventeenth century, white marble
facing was used to cover entire buildings, the best-
known example of which is the Taj Mahal. In
addition to the fine-cut stone masonry used for
façades coursed rubble stone construction was
used for the majority of walls. Baked brick was
also used for some elements of the construction
like domes and arches although this was usually
covered with plaster or facing stones.
Decoration of buildings was carried out using a
variety of techniques including ceramic tilework,
carved and inlaid stonework, pietra dura inlay with
coloured and semi-precious stones. Tilework was
applied to the exterior of buildings in the Persian
manner using Chinese, Persian and Indian tiles. Two
main types of tile were used—cuerda sec using
coloured glazes, and tile mosaic which used cut pieces
of monochrome tiles to produce a pattern. Mughal
architecture excels in the quality of its carved
stonework, from shallow relief depictions of flowers
to intricate pierced-marble screens known as jalis. It
has previously been thought that the pietra dura work
in Mughal architecture was an Italian introduction
because Shah Jahan used some Italian examples of
the technique in his palace in Delhi, however this
technique had an independent development in India
which is obvious when the Italian panels are
compared with Indian examples. The main types of
building designed for the sultans included palaces and
forts, mosques, tombs and gardens. The range of
buildings indicates the image the emperors wished
to project of themselves as all-powerful rulers close
to heaven. One of the most important types of
building was the fortified palace as seen at Delhi, Agra,

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Mughals
Ajmer, Fatehpur Sikri and Lahore. Although differing
substantially in details the palaces share a common
overall design where severe external walls conceal a
series of courtyards, pavilions and gardens which
convey an impression of paradise on earth. The
standard plan was of a monumental outer gate which
leads inside to another gate known as the ‘Hathai Pol’
where visitors dismount from elephants. From here
there was access to the Diwan-i Amm or public
audience hall behind which were the private areas of
the palace. The private areas of the palace were usually
raised up above the rest of the complex for increased
privacy and to catch any breezes in the summer heat.
This part of the palace usually included a private
audience hall, a bath house, several courtyards with
pavilions based around pools and a separate area for
the women, known as the zenana. On one side of this
private area was a tower projecting from the outer
walls known as the Mussaman Burj (octagonal tower)
from which the emperor appeared once a day to show
that he was still alive.
Babur, the first Mughal emperor, only reigned for
four years, during which time he was too busy
securing his empire to spend time on major building
projects like palaces and instead governed from
tented encampments. The earliest Mughal palace is
the Purana Qila in Delhi built by Humayun and
continued by the Bengali usurpers Sher Sur and
Islam Sur. The palace is surrounded by a huge wall
1.5 km long with three huge gateways. Each gateway
consists of an arched opening flanked by two huge
semi-circular bastion towers with battered walls,
arrow slits and pointed crenellations. Little remains
of the original structures inside the fort with the