Architectural monuments of the sultanate period

1. A mixture of Indian (Hindu) and Iranian (Muslim) Style: The Sultans of Delhi wanted to construct their buildings on the pattern of Iran and Central Asia. However, their buildings could not be exact copies of these buildings. They had to employ Indian craftsmen who had their own ideas about the form and method of construction. Thus though the buildings were designed by Muslim architects to suit the requirements of their religious ideas, yet they were constructed by Hindu craftsmen who formed the finest artistry of the world. Obviously the buildings had a combination of Indo- Islamic architecture. ADVERTISEMENTS: 2. Buildings constructed with the material of Hindu temples: Several buildings were constructed out of the material used in the temples that were destroyed by some of the Muslim rulers. Quwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Delhi is said to have been built by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak by demolishing a Hindu temple. Likewise ‘Adai-din-ka Jhopra’ a mosque in Ajmer, built in 2 ½ days came into being on the ruins of a Hindu building. 3. Pointed arched in the Muslim structures: ADVERTISEMENTS: It is noted that the Hindus used square pillars which supported their temple roofs. On the other hand the Muslims used the arches. Besides arches, they also used domes over their buildings and minarets on sides. The use of arch and dome added charm to the Muslim buildings and also enabled them to dispense with the need of a large number of pillars to support the roof. 4. Carvings: The Hindus carved...

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Mosques, tombstones, textiles, and murals are only a few examples of the art and architecture created on the Indian subcontinent in the sultanates. The sultanates were areas governed by Muslim sultans that were originally unified as the Delhi sultanate but would eventually fracture into independent states, and whose art and architecture was innovative and eclectic, drawing on sources from across Asia. For some sultanates, the Indian Ocean trade network, which connected East Africa, the Arabian peninsula, the south coast of Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and south east Asia, allowed for the easy mobility of objects and ideas across this vast geography. For others, overland trade and shifting political affiliations would facilitate mobility. By the fourteenth century, the Delhi sultanate had expanded considerably, extending all the way south to encompass the Deccan plateau. Map of the sultanates (Gujarat, Sindh, Jaunpur, Bengal, and the Bahmani, sultanate), c. 1400; also indicated are the cities of Delhi and Bidar (underlying map © Google) Their hold over this vast empire, however, was often tenuous and multiple groups—in Gujarat, northern Karnataka, Jaunpur, Bengal, and Sindh—broke away to form independent sultanates. The 238 foot tall Qutb minar in the background, c. 1192, Qutb archaeological complex, Delhi (photo: Indrajit Das, CC BY-SA 4.0) The arts of these breakaway states were influenced by the artistic traditions of t he Delhi sultans. One of the earliest and most in...

Delhi sultanate but would eventually fracture into independent states, and whose art and architecture was innovative and eclectic, drawing on sources from across Asia. For some sultanates, the Indian Ocean trade network, which connected East Africa, the Arabian peninsula, the south coast of Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and south east Asia, allowed for the easy mobility of objects and ideas across this vast geography. For others, overland trade and shifting political affiliations facilitated the mobility of objects and ideas. The patron of the mosque, Dawlatshah Muhammad al-Butihari, held a variety of administrative positions and was closely connected to the ports of Gujarat while al-Kazeruni held the official title malik al-tujjar (prince of merchants). His burial next to the mosque, a highly desirable location for pious Muslims, as well as his title, emphasize his significance. Merchants were particularly important in Gujarati port cities such as Khambayat, because of how essential they were in the city's Indian Ocean trade. A pair of gravestones in the Victoria and Albert Museum which were found in Dhofar in Oman adds further context. The pair were the headstone and footstone of the grave of al-Malik al-Watiq Nur al-Din Ibrahim ibn al-Malik al-Muzaffar, a son of the Rasulid sultan who served as a governor of Dhofar. The Rasulid dynasty, who ruled over Yemen and parts of Oman between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, benefitted from taxes they levied on merchants ...

Art and architecture of Delhi Sultanate was the period when the Delhi Sultanate flourished in India. This period brought with it new styles of architecture and art to India which were quickly absorbed into the set up present previously. There are reasons for events to move in this direction. The new ideas and the existing Indian styles had several common features, thus enabling them to become accustomed to one another. Both mosque and temple possess large open courtyards and several other temples were converted into mosques by some of the foreign invaders, which formed a mixture of both Indian and foreign styles. The Delhi Sultanate brought two new architectural ideas, the pointed arch and the dome. The dome forms the major decorative component in Islamic buildings, and soon the same was introduced in several other structures. The true or pointed arch used during this period, was totally dissimilar to that of the arches which were being constructed within the country before. The primitive Indian style of making arches was to first construct two pillars and then the same would be cut at interval to hold 'plug in' projections. There would also be a series of squares which would step by step decrease in size forming an arch. The new artisans brought in the true arch. This was accomplished by forming the middle stone a key stone and to other stones allocates the load to the two pillars. The idea of the dome was also newly introduced. This was slowly perfected and one of the st...

Before Qutb al-Din Aibak was the first sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, he was a Turkic military slave and a general in the army of the Ghurid dynasty of Afghanistan. He played an important role in conquering Delhi in 1192, as part of the territorial ambitions of the eleventh century Ghurid ruler Muhammad Ghuri. As the Ghurid administrator in Delhi, Aibak oversaw the building of congregational mosques, including the Qutb mosque. The mosque is believed to have been built quickly as a matter of necessity—not only would the Ghurid forces have needed a place to pray, but a mosque was crucial for the proclamation of the name of the ruler during the weekly congregational prayer. In this context, such proclamations would have affirmed the legitimacy of Muhammad’s Ghuri’s right to rule. Qutb al-Din Aibak had come to India from Afghanistan and was familiar with its diverse architectural landscape. Afghanistan’s architecture in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries reflected both its pre-Islamic and Islamic history, as well as cultural exchange with Central Asia and India. Historians also describe the court of the Delhi Sultanate as Persianized, because it made use of the Persian language, literature, and Perso-Islamic art and architecture. The architecture of the Delhi Sultanate is notable for its stylized decorative ornament which seamlessly incorporates features from Islamic artistic traditions such as arabesques (intertwining and scrolling vines), calligraphy, and geometric forms w...