MUGHAL

ARCHITECTURE
C

Presented by – Ar Samira Gupte

 The Mughal empire was
Features of Mughal Architecture created after Babur’s victory at
Panipat in 1526. During his five-
• Hindu, Persian, and Islamic influences are combined in Mughal architecture. year rule, Babur was a keen
Large bulbous onion domes, frequently flanked by four smaller domes, are a builder, yet few of his
typical feature of many structures. structures have survived.
Akbar, his grandson, built
• White marble, as well as red sandstone, are used. much, and the style flourished
• Pachin Kari ornamental work and jali-latticed screens are examples of under his rule. Agra Fort,
exquisite ornamentation workmanship. Fatehpur Sikri Fort City, and
the Buland Darwaza were one
• On all four sides, magnificent buildings are encircled by gardens. of his achievements. The
• Mosques with huge courtyards are very popular. Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir
were commissioned by
• Calligraphic inscriptions in Persian and Arabic, containing Quranic verses. Akbar’s son Jahangir. During
• The main building is approached via a series of large gateways. the reign of Emperor Shah
Jahan, who built the Taj
• On 2 or 4 sides, there are iwans. Mahal, the Jama Masjid, the
• Decorative chhatris are used. Shalimar Gardens of Lahore,
the Wazir Khan Mosque, and
• Jalis and jharokhas are used. reconstructed the Lahore Fort,
• Mughal architecture influenced later Indian styles of architecture such as the Mughal architecture achieved
British Raj’s Indo-Saracenic style, the Rajput style, as well as the Sikh style. its pinnacle. Aurangzeb, the
last of the great Mughal
architects, designed the
Badshahi Mosque, Bibi Ka
Maqbara, and Moti Masjid,
among other structures.
 Mughal architecture in India
Gardens
Tombs Mosque Fortresses
& cities
Humayun
Jami masjid, Red fort, Shalimar
Delhi Delhi
Akbar garden,

Jahangir
Jama Fatehpur
Agra Fort,
Shah Jahan masjid, sikri
Agra
Fatehpur Sikri
Auragzeb
 Mughal architecture in India: Tombs

Tomb of Humayun Tomb of Akbar Tomb of Jahangir

Known as the inspiration of Taj

Mahal. Built on a strong plinth
Introduction of landscape Imposing rectangular structure Single storey,
Enclosed with a wall in center Heavy minars on corners
4 gateways Bold recessed arches Composition missing, Minars
Arches of plinth make it visibly Marble minars on top create void (visual)
lighter Artstically done, Lower storey Use of red sand stone and
Use of double dome. Dome well connected, upper storey marble.
raised on drum very light.
 Mughal architecture in India: Tombs

Tomb by Shahjahan Tomb built by Aurangzeb

Symmetry, geometry, emphasis on Effort to create a replica of taj Mahal.

details Lack of proportions.
Octagonal plan, symmetrical on both Overall dimensions lost.
axes. Gateway to structure – pathway
Plinth – proportional with arches
Built in marble
Onion shaped false dome. Minarets
create a visual frame for the structure.
THE TAJ MAHAL
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 Mughal architecture in India: Tombs

The Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World

Heritage Site, was erected in
remembrance of King Shah Jahan’s
favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal
between 1630 and 1649. It took 22
years to build and cost 32 million
rupees, using 22,000 people and
1,000 elephants.

The architects evolved this design

from Humayun’s tomb in Delhi.
 Mughal architecture in India: Tombs
The gateway to the taj is built in
red sand stone with white marble
inlay.
On entering the gateway, one can
see the garden in front and then
the tomb.

Garden has central pool, water

flows in four directions from this
pool, dividing the garden in four
parts – Charbagh garden plan. The
slope of the garden was carefully
designed to maintain the flow of
water from the river.
 Mughal architecture in India: Tombs
Structure is 57 sq m
The plinth, Chabutara is 6.7 m high and 95 sqm in
area

Onion dome 25 m high, 18 m in diameter supported

on a high drum rising to a height of 64 m above the
ground.

The width of the building is almost equal to the height

of the building and façade in the center has the
same height as the central dome.
Around the main dome, there are 4 smaller domes.

At each corner of the platform is a slender and

graceful minaret in three storeys, with cupola and
pinnacles rising to a height of 42 m

https://archi-monarch.com/taj-mahal-architectural-analysis/
FATEHPUR SIKRI
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 Mughal architecture in India: Cities
Fatehpur sikri, a city predominantly in red sand-stone, situated at a distance of 37 kms from Agra,
was built by the Mughal Emperor Jalal-ud-din Mohammad Akbar, in honour of the great Sufi saint
Sheikh Salim Chisti ; its magnificence and uniqueness offers a fine example of the emperor's
architectural finesse. Akbar's tolerant religious views and interest in literature, architecture and fine
arts gave the buildings at Fatehpur Sikri a charismatic blend of Islamic and Hindu elements in their
style and design.

https://www.thedecorjournalindia.com/fatehpur-sikri
Mughal architecture in India: Cities
Private
zone

Public
zone

Zoning pattern Use of courtyards and screens for air

movements
 Mughal architecture in India: Cities
Unlike the axial planning of Islamic Courtyard
within the
complexes where buildings are structures
nestled in the gardens, the
Fatehpur Sikri complex is
organized in a sequential form
Courtyard
with enclosed and open spaces of around the
varying sizes. The connectivity of structures

Use of courtyards
spaces is maintained with each
space giving a different experience
of scale and volume. The Structure
movement is directed from space abutting
to space and no definite paths are the space
designed for accessibility.
 Mughal architecture in India: Cities
1. Buland Darwaja Buland Darwaza is a triumphal gateway built by Akbar about 25
years after the completion of the Jami Masjid. The southern
gateway to the mosque courtyard was demolished and replaced
with this monument to commemorate Akbar’s victorious
campaign in the Deccan.

1.The gateway is 134’ high, approached by a steep flight of steps

42’ high. Thus, the total height of the structure comes out to be
176’ above the roadway.

2.The structure is 130’ wide and 123’ deep.

3.The structure may be resolved into two aspects, the frontal and
highest aspect forming the façade with the portal and the back
view consisting of a lower and plainer portion intruding into the
mosque courtyard.

4.The façade is embowed by the means of three planes

comprising a large central face and a lesser one on each side
receding at an angle.
 Mughal architecture in India: Cities
1. Buland Darwaja Buland Darwaza is a triumphal gateway built by Akbar about
25 years after the completion of the Jami Masjid. The
southern gateway to the mosque courtyard was demolished
and replaced with this monument to commemorate Akbar’s
victorious campaign in the Deccan.

1.The gateway is 134’ high, approached by a steep flight of

steps 42’ high. Thus, the total height of the structure comes
out to be 176’ above the roadway.

2.The structure is 130’ wide and 123’ deep.

3.The structure may be resolved into two aspects, the frontal

and highest aspect forming the façade with the portal and
the back view consisting of a lower and plainer portion
intruding into the mosque courtyard.

4.The façade is embowed by the means of three planes

comprising a large central face and a lesser one on each
side receding at an angle.
 Mughal architecture in India: Cities
1. Buland Darwaja 1.The central plane is 86’ wide and is rectangular in shape,
the greater part of its surface occupied by and arched
and domed recess whose semi-dome is carried on five
surfaces in the form of a half-decagon down to the
ground, with a human height doorway at the base.

2.The smaller planes are in three levels with varied openings

at each stage.

3.The whole is crowned by a perforated parapet, behind

which pillared kiosks break the skyline.

4.The rear aspect of the gateway is less pronounced,

consisting of three arched entrances and a parapet in two
stages to accord with the arches and colonnades of the
mosque interior as far as possible.

5.The main element of the decorative treatment of the

outer façade is the wide border of the gateway
emphasizing its rectangular formation, providing ample
space for a continuous ornamental inscription.
 Mughal architecture in India: Cities
2. Diwan-e-khaas
Hall Of Private Audience. On entering it, one finds only
a single vaulted chamber. In the centre stands a
profusely carved column supporting a collosal-
bracketed capital. Four narrow causeways project
from the centre and run to each corner of the
chamber. It is believed that Akbar’s throne occupied
the circular space over the capital and the corners
were assigned to the four ministers.
MUGHAL GARDENS
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 Mughal architecture in India: Gardens
1. Charbagh garden
A charbagh can be defined as a quadrilateral
garden divided into parts by water channels.
The name describes the 'four square' plan of a
Persian paradise garden

The gardens were square or rectangular in shape

with further divisions into smaller square parterres
usually limiting the number to four.
Imposing entrances were constructed for these
horticultural marvels and larger gardens
sometimes even had four entrances. The appeal
of the gardens was increased by planting trees
in such a way that it enhanced the general lines
of the gardens. There was also space for public
gatherings, feasts and the zenana.
 Mughal architecture in India: Gardens
1. Charbagh garden
Irrigation works were an important feature as
they were used to ward off the heat and
provide respite. The canals and tanks
constructed were kept brimming with water
and fed into the shallow watercourses which
lay along the walking paths.

Canals flowed into tanks (called ‘hauz’) which

were mostly studded with fountains. Sheets of
water fell from one terrace to another,
creating a cool retreat. Usually the principal
pavilion was placed in the center where the
largest body of water was present.
 Mughal architecture in India: Gardens
1. Shalimar garden, Kashmir
• The garden was built on flat land on a square plan
with four radiating arms from a central location as
the water source.
• It needed to be modified to suit the hilly terrain and
availability of a well, which could be diverted from a
higher elevation to the planned gardens.
Modifications involved the main channel running
through the garden axially from top to the lowest
point. This central channel, known as the Shah
Nahar, is the main axis of the garden. It runs through
three terraces.
• This layout left out the radial arms and the shape
became rectangular, instead of a square plan of the
Chahar Bagh.
•
 Mughal architecture in India: Gardens
1. Shalimar garden, Kashmir
• The architectural details of the three terraces of the garden are
elaborate.
• The first terrace is a public garden or the outer garden ending in
the Diwan-e-Aam (public audience hall). In this hall, a small
black marble throne was installed over the waterfall
• The second terrace garden along the axial canal, slightly
broader, has two shallow terraces. The Diwan-e-Khas (the Hall of
Private Audience), which was accessible only to the noblemen
or guests of the court, now derelict, is in its centre. However, the
carved stone bases and a fine platform surrounded by fountains
are still seen.
• The royal bathrooms are located on the north-west boundary of
this enclosure. The fountain pools of the Diwan-e-Khas, the
Diwan-e-Aam, and in turn, the Zenana terrace are supplied in
succession. It has 410 fountains
•
 Mughal architecture in India: Gardens
1. Shalimar garden, Kashmir
• In the third terrace, the axial
water channel flows through
the Zenana garden, which is
flanked by the Diwan-e-Khas
and chinar trees. At the
entrance to this terrace, there
are two small pavilions or guard
rooms (built in Kashmir style on
stone plinth) that is the
restricted and controlled entry
zone of the royal harem. Shah
Jahan built a baradari of black
marble, called the Black
Pavilion in the zenana garden.
It is encircled by a fountain
pool that receives its supply
from a higher terrace.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/55
RED FORT, DELHI
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 Mughal architecture in India: Forts
1. Red fort, New Delhi
The Red Fort Complex was built as the
palace fort of Shahjahanabad – the
new capital of the fifth Mughal Emperor
of India, Shah Jahan. Named for its
massive enclosing walls of red
sandstone, it is adjacent to an older
fort, the Salimgarh, built by Islam Shah
Suri in 1546, with which it forms the Red
Fort Complex. The private apartments
consist of a row of pavilions connected
by a continuous water channel, known
as the Nahr-i-Behisht (Stream of
Paradise).

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/red-fort-a-
symbol-of-splendour-
incredibleindia/dgWhNOimJNNcLg?hl=en
 Mughal architecture in India: Forts
1. Red fort, New Delhi
1. Delhi gate
2. Lahore gate
3. Chatta chowk (covered bazar)
4. Naubat khana (Drum house)
5. Diwan-e-aam
6. Shahi burj
7. Nahar e behist (stream of paradise)
8. Hammam (royal baths)
9. Diwan-e-khas
10. Khas mahal
11. Rang mahal (palace of colours)
12. Moti masjid
13. Mumtaj mahal
14. Salimgarh fort
15. Hayat baksh garden
16. Bhadon pavilion
17. Sawan pavilion
18. Zafar mahal
19. Asad burj
 Mughal architecture in India: Forts
1. Red fort, New Delhi
• The walls of the fort have a smooth design, articulated by
heavy string-courses along the upper section. They open
at two major gates, the Delhi and the Lahore gates.
The Lahore Gate serves as the main entrance, leading to
a long covered bazaar street, the Chatta Chowk, lined
with stalls for shops.
• The Chatta Chowk leads to a large open space then
crosses the large north-south street that originally marked
the division between the fort's military functions, to its west,
and the palaces, to its east.
• At the southern end of that street stands the Delhi
Gate. On axis with the Lahore gate and the Chatta
Chowk, on the eastern side of the open space, sits
the Naqqar Khana ("drum house"), the main gate for the
palace, named for the musicians' gallery above it. Beyond
that gate lay another, larger open space, which originally
served as the courtyard of the Diwan-i-Am, the spacious
pavilion for public imperial audiences. An ornate throne-
balcony for the emperor stands at the center of the
eastern wall of the Diwan
 Mughal architecture in India
Sample questions
1. Explain evolution in tomb structures in India under Mughals.
2. Explain in detail planning and construction of Taj mahal.
3. Write in detail about Fatehpur Sikri
4. Landscape style developed during Mughals had a specific style. Support this
statement with appropriate examples.
5. Explain fort architecture developed during Mughal period with proper example.
6. Write a short note on Buland darvaja