MUGHAL ARCHITECHTURE

AN INTRODUCTION

• Mughal architecture is the type of Indo-Islamic architecture developed

by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
• Mughal buildings have a uniform pattern of structure and character,
including large bulbous domes, slender minarets at the corners, massive
halls, large vaulted gateways.
• they can be found in modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan.
• Babur took considerable interest in erecting buildings, though
few have survived. His grandson Akbar built widely, and the
style developed vigorously during his reign.
• Among his accomplishments were Agra Fort, the fort-city
of Fatehpur Sikri, and the Buland Darwaza.
 Features of Mughal arc
• Mughal architecture incorporates Hindu elements
with Persian and Islamic
 elements. Some features common to many buildings are: Large
bulbous onion
domes, sometimes surrounded by four smaller domes.
• Use of white marble and red sandstone.
• Use of delicate ornamentation work, including pachin Kari decorative
work and jali-latticed screens.
• Monumental buildings surrounded by gardens on all four sides.
• Mosques with large courtyards.
• Persian and Arabic calligraphic inscriptions, including verses from
the Quran.
• Large gateways leading up to the main building.
• Iwans on two or four sides.
• Use of decorative chhatris.
• Use of jalis and jharokhas.
• Mughal architecture has also influenced later Indian architectural styles,
including the Indo-Saracenic style of the British Raj, the Rajput
style and the Sikh style.
Taj Mahal
• The Taj Mahal lit. 'Crown of the Palace',  is an ivory-
white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the
river Yamuna .
• It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah
Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his favorite wife
Mumtaz Mahal.
• The tomb is the centerpiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex,
which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in
Demographic
formal gardens bounded Dimensions
on three sides by a crenellated wall.
features
location Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Area 17 hectares
Height 73 m (240 ft)
Built 1632–53
Built for Mumtaz Mahal
Architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri
Architectural style(s) Mughal architecture
Humayun,s tomb
• This tomb, built in 1570, is of particular cultural significance as it
was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired
several major architectural innovations, culminating in the
construction of the Taj Mahal.
• Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi is the first of the grand dynastic
mausoleums that were to become synonyms of Mughal
architecture.
• that includes other contemporary, 16th century Mughal garden-
tombs such as Nila Gumbad.
• Humayun’s Tomb was built in the 1560’s, with the patronage of
Humayun’s son, the great Emperor Akbar.
• Persian and Indian craftsmen worked together to build the garden-
tomb, far grander than any tomb built before in the Islamic world.
• Humayun’s garden-tomb is an example of the charbagh (a four
quadrant garden with the four rivers of Quranic paradise
represented), with pools joined by channels.
• The garden is entered from lofty gateways on the south and from
the west with pavilions located in the center of the eastern and
northern walls.
Red fort • Red Fort, also called Lal Qalʿah, also spelled Lal
Kila or Lal Qila, Mughal fort in Old Delhi, India. It was
built by Shah Jahān in the mid-17th century and
remains a major tourist attraction.
• The fort was designated a UNESCO World Heritage
site in 2007.
• The fort’s massive red sandstone walls, which stand 75
feet (23 meter's) high, enclose a complex of palaces
and entertainment halls, projecting balconies, baths
and indoor canals, and geometrical gardens, as well as
an ornate mosque.
• Among the most famous structures of the complex are
the Hall of Public Audience (Diwan-i-ʿAm).
• It has 60 red sandstone pillars supporting a flat roof,
and the Hall of Private Audience (Diwan-i-Khas)which is
smaller and has a pavilion of white marble.
Sher-sah suri tomb
• This tomb is situated in the middle of a huge pond spread over
an area of ​22 acres, whose length (east to west) is 1130 feet and
width (north to south) is 865 feet.
• To reach the tomb, one has to pass through the small domed
tomb of Sher Shah’s concierge located to the north of the pond.
• The turrets built on all three storeys with grandeur add to its
grandeur and present the best specimen of Pathan architecture.
• For this reason, Kanindham has considered it even better than
the Taj Mahal.
• The tomb of Sher Shah Suri is in the Sasaram town of Bihar state,
India.
• The tomb was built in memory of Emperor Sher Shah Suri, a
Pathan from Bihar who defeated the Mughal Empire and founded
the Suri Empire in northern India.
• He died in an accidental gunpowder explosion in the fort of
Kalinjar on 13 May 1545 AD.
Itmad-ud-dulah tomb
• The Itimad-ud-Daula’s Tomb is situated on the left bank of river
Jamuna next to Chini-ka-Rauza. Itimad-ud-Daula was the title
given to Mirza Ghiyath Beg, father of Nur Jahan.
• The tomb building consists of a central hall, which houses the
tomb of Wazir and his wife. Small chambers in which the tombs
of other family members are located surround this hall.
• A sandstone staircase leads to the first floor, where elegant
oblong dome is found surmounting a pavilion over the central
hall, topped with pinnacles.
• This pavilion also contains cenotaphs of plain marble but
without any inscriptions.
• At the corners of the top of the building stand four round towers
approximately measuring 40 feet in height, which are
surmounted by marble kiosks.
• The cenotaphs and walls of the ground floor contain inscription
in Persian.
• The wall inscriptions are from Quran and other holy texts, while
the cenotaph inscriptions are stating the name and title of those
interned.