Sources and Development of Muslim

Architecture

Lecture -1
DATE-07/12/2023
IHC_BATCH-CEDP-34
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
 Islamic Art
• **The term ‘Islamic Art’ refers not only to the art made for
Islamic practices and settings but also to the art made by and
for people who lived or live in lands wheremost or themost
important people were or are Muslims, that is believers in
Islam.Thetermis,therefore,used somewhat differently than
such comparable terms as ‘Christian’ or ‘Buddhist’ art:
Islamic art refers to the arts of all Islamic cultures and
not just to the arts related to the religion of Islam.
(Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair, Islamic Art , Phaidon Press
1997, p. 5)
 Defining the Era and place of Islamic Art
• Unlike such terms as ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Baroque’, ‘Italian’
or French’ Islamic art refers neither to art of a specificeranor
tothat of a particular place or people. (Jonathan Bloom
and Sheila Blair, Ibid, p.5)
 Who are the builders?
Islamic Art is neither a style nor movement and the people who
made it were not necessarily Muslims, so we cannot define
it by the confessional affiliation of the makers, whereas some
Islamic art was undoubtedly made by Christians and Jews for
Muslim patrons, some ‘Islamic’ art made by Muslims was
intended for Christian or Jews. (p. 5)
 Time and space of Islamic Art
• In short, the idea of Islamic art beginning in the
seventh–century Arabia and encompassed by the fifteenth
century all the lands between the Atlantic and the
Indian oceans, the steppes of Central Asia and the Deserts
of Africa-is a distinctly modern notion generated not by
Islamic culture itself but by outsiders.
 Thinking different: the proper terminology of
Islamic Art
• The definition of Islamic art which was constructed in the
nineteenth century based on restrictive geographic and ethnic
titles such as ‘Indian’ or ‘Hindu’, ‘Persian’, Turkish, ‘Arab’,
‘Moorish’ and ‘Saracenic’ came to be replaced by the end of
twentieth century with such all-embracing terms as
‘Mohammedan’ or ‘Islamic’, and ‘Moslem/Muslim. These
terms bring together ideas and works of art that were not
necessarily grouped in their own time.
 Better ways to slice up the chronological
pie
• There are many ways of dividing the historical age. The era of
Islamic art can be divided into three periods:
• The early period encompasses the origins of Islam and the emergence
of Islamic societies until the year 900. During this period, most if
not all of the Islamic lands were united under a single caliph who ruled
from Arabia, Syria or Iraq.
• The middle -period covers the break-up of the caliphate in the tenth
century and the emergence of many regional powers with distinct
artistic traditions.
• In the late period most of the Islamic lands were ruled by one of the great
imperial super powers- the Ottomans in the Mediterranean lands, the
Safavids in Iran, and the Mughals in India.
 Definition of Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture can be defined as the building traditions of Muslim

populations of the Middle East and any countries where Islam has been
dominant from the 7th century on.
Types of Islamic Architecture

• Mosque — muslim centre @ place for worship

• Madrasah — public school
• Hammam - A strucfural design for a hot bathhouse
• Caravanserai - A roadside inn for travellers
• Casbah/Citadel - a fortress
• Mausoleum - a tomb or a monument
 Anatolia:
Iran and Central Asia: Use of massive central dome The Indian subcontinent:
The bi-axial four iwan type Triple domes and an extensive courtyard

China: Spain, NorthAfrla South-East Asia: Cental pyamidal

Detached pavillions within a The hypostyle hall and open Roof Construction
Walled garden enclosure courtyard
1 Minaret
2 Dome
3 Keel Arches
4 Stair Step Crenellation
5. Sahn (ablution)
6 Muqarnas
7. Mashrabiya
8.Dikka
The three fundamental forms used in Islamic Art
 Madina Mosque and House of Prophet Muhammad (Sm.)

After the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mekka to Madina, he built a

house for himself and his family. It consisted of an enclosure of mud-brick about
100 cubits square with 7 cubits high and a portico on the south side made of palm-
trunks used as columns to support a roof of palm leaves and mud. Against the
outer side of the east wall were built small huts (hujra) for the prophet’s wives.
All were opened into the courtyard.
According to the description of Ibn Sa’d, an eyewitness, before the demolition
of this structure, there were four houses of mud brick, with apartments partitioned
off by palm branches plastered with mud, and five houses made of palm branches
and not divided into rooms.
In the south-west corner of the courtyard was a shelter serving as a home for the
poorest who migrated from Mekka following the prophet.
Prophet was entirely without architectural ambition. According to a hadith
described by Ibn Sa’d- The most unprofitable thing that eateth up the wealth of a
Believer is building.
Medina Mosque
 Basra Mosque

• Built in 635

• In the new city of Basra by Utba ibn Gajwaan

• The first Dar al Imara was built in the North- east
side of the mosque.
• The mosque was nothing but an open space bounded
withreed.
 Kufa Mosque

• Built in 638

• In the new city of Kufa by Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas

• The Dar ul Imara was built adjacent to the
Qibla wall.
• The mosque proper had no wall or boundary, was originally
bounded by watercannel.
Kufa Mosque
 The Dome of the Rock
 The Dome of the Rock was built between AD 685 and 691 by the caliph 'Abd al-
Malik ibn Marwan, not as a mosque for public worship but rather as a mashhad, a
shrine for pilgrims.
 It is virtually the first monumental building in Islamic history and is of considerable
aesthetic and architectural importance; it is rich with mosaic, faience, and marble,
much of which was added several centuries after its completion.
 Basically octagonal, the Dome of the Rock is more typically Roman or Byzantine
than Islamic.
 A wooden dome--approximately 60 feet (18 m) in diameter and mounted on an
elevated drum rises above a circle of 16 piers and columns.
 Surrounding this circle is an octagonal arcade of 24 piers and columns.
 The outer walls repeat this octagon, each of the eight sides being approximately 60
feet (18 m) wide and 36 feet (11 m) high. Both the dome and the exterior walls
contain many windows.
 Christians and Muslims in the European Middle Ages believed the Dome itself to be
the Temple of Solomon (Templum Domini).
 The rock over which the shrine was built is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
 The Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, is traditionally believed to have
ascended into heaven from the site.
 In Jewish tradition, it is here that Abraham, the progenitor and first patriarch of the
Hebrew people, is said to have prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. The Dome and
Al-Aqsa Mosque are both located on the Temple Mount, the site of Solomon's
Temple and its successors.
 The Knights Templars were quartered there in the Crusades, and Templar churches
in Europe imitated its plan.
elevation
 th
Holy Santa Costanza (Rome,Italy.Built in 4 centuryA.D.)
 The Mosque of Damascus (705-715)

• Also known as the mosque of Al Walid I.

• It was a period of great expansion to east and west and of consolidation
within the empire.
• It was built as the central or Jama Mosque of the newly established
Capital. A concern for prestige and the expression of newly acquired
power led the caliph to build it. (Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg
Grabar,The Art and Architecture of Islam 650-1250, p. 37)
 The Mosque of Damascus (705-715)
• It is entirely a new structure built by the Muslims.
• It is a rectangular-shaped Building. Its size is 157 by 100.
• It was fired in 1893 and much of the structure was rebuilt.
Plan
Plan origin
 Great Mosque, Samara, ( 847/61)
• The first mosque in Samarra was built in 836,
but it was replaced between 848 and 852 by the
Great Mosque of al Mutawakkil.
• The Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil was commissioned by the
Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil.
• At the time of its construction, it was one of the largest mosque in
the world. A total of 80,000 Muslims could worship there
at the sametime. It was continued to be used until 1278
when it was partially destroyed during the Hulagu Khan
invasion of Iraq.
 Architectural Design
• The congregational mosque covered an area of almost 38,000 square
meters, and its walls were 239 by156 meters. Here are some
other facts about its design:
• The building had a proportion of 3 to 2 which was similar to
other mosques.
• Its walls were 2.65 meters thick and included 44 semi-circular
towers.
• Its outer walls measured 444 by 376 meters which
enclosed an area of 17 hectacres. These outer walls
enclosed an area called a ziyada, which is an enclosed field
common to mosques during this period.
• The structure had 17 aisles and 16 gates.
Ground Plan
 Manara al Malwiya
• The MalwiyaTower: the mosque'sminaret or place from
where prayer is called, is aconical tower with a spiral ramp. It's
shape is heavily influenced by a certain kind of
Mesopotamian ziggurat. One of the most famous minarets, it is
52 meters tall and 33 meters wide. At the time of its construction, it
would have been taller than anything else in Samarra. The caliph loved
architecture and had a huge impact on architecture in the city. It is not
surprising that he was responsible for such a unique masterpiece.
 The Mosque of Cordoba (784-786)

• The Great Mosque of Cordoba was considered a wonder of the

medieval world by both Muslims and Christians. Built on a
Visigothic site, which was probably the site of an earlier Roman temple,
the Great Mosque of Cordoba was begun between784and786during
the reign of 'Abd al-Rahman I, who escaped from Syria to the Iberian
Peninsula after his family was massacred byarival political dynasty.
 Features

• The mosque's hypostyle plan, consisting of a rectangular prayer hall and an

enclosed courtyard, followed a tradition established in the Umayyad and
Abbasid mosques of Syria and Iraq.
• However, the dramatic articulation of the interior of the prayer hall was
unprecedented. The system of columns supporting double arcades of piers
and arches with alternating red and white voussoirs is an unusual treatment
that, structurally, combined striking visual effect with the practical
advantage of providing greater height within the hall.
• Alternating red and white voussoirs are associated with Umayyad
monuments such as the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the
Rock. Their use in the Great Mosque of Cordoba manages to create a
stunningly original visual composition even as it emphasises 'Abd al-
Rahman's connection to the established Umayyad tradition.
 Features and Extentions
• The mosque was expanded by later rulers, started from the reigns of
'Abd al- Rahman II between 833-852, al-Hakam II between 961-976,
and the vizier al- Mansur from 987), the basic formula of arcades with
alternating voussoirs was maintained in each of the additions.
• The most lavish interior ornament is concentrated in the maqsura, the
prayer space reserved for the ruler, which was commissioned by the
caliph al-Hakam II.
• The maqsura is visually separated from the rest of the prayer hall by
screens formed of elaborate intersecting polylobed arcades, an elegant
variation on the basic architectural theme set in the earliest incarnation
of the mosque.
• These screens emphasise the special status of the space, which is
composed of three domed bays in front of the mihrab. The mihrab was
unprecedented for taking the form of an entire room rather than the
traditional niche, and for being flanked by two rooms whose entrances
are decorated with mosaics in a manner similar to that of the mihrab.
• The maqsura is lavishly decorated with carved marble, stucco, and
elaborate mosaics.
 Muslim Architecture in India

Some Features of Indian Architecture

• Traditional Indian building style is trabeat, using pillers and beams and lintels.
• Main elements are the introduction of arches and beams, the arcuate style of
construction.
• Early buildings of the slave dynasty did not employ true Islamic building style
and consisted of false dome and false arches.
• The introduction of true arch and true domes start to appear, the earliest example
is the Alai Darwaza by the side of Qutub Minar.
Qutub Complex, New Delhi
 Quwatul Islam Mosque (Qutub Complex, New Delhi)

• Quwatul Islam mosque is the first example of the Imperial style of Indo-Islamic
architecture.
• It is the first element of Qutub Complex, erected after the establishment of
Muslim rule in Delhi during the reign of the Slave/ Mamluk dynasty (1191-
1246) in the last decade of twelve century.
• The Qutub Complex was commenced by Qutb-ud-din on the site of the Hindu
stronghold of Qal’a-i-Rai Pithura, which he converted into the Muslim capital
of Delhi.
• The mosque was erected in the centre of an old citadel after dismantling a large
Hindu temple (Taju-l-Ma-asir of Hasan Nizami ( translated by Eliot, as History
of India told by its own Historians, Vol. ll)
Arial view of Quwatul Islam Mosque
 Plan and Structure

• Mosque proper is a rectangle building covering 212 feet long by 150 wide
• The plinth of the old temple was enlarged to double its original size in order to
form a sufficiently spacious area to accommodate the mosque
• The courtyard was 141 feet by 105 feet surrounded by pillared cloisters, three
aisles deep
• The whole being enclosed by a wall and cloisters around its four side
• The Mosque was made of stone
• The materials of as many as twenty-seven temples of neighborhood were used
for the construction of this mosque
• To gain the necessary height, the short pillars from the temples being placed one
above another
• The pillars in the zullah area was made more specious and elaborated into a
series of bays with shallow domed ceilings
Plan (with extension)
Riwak
Zullah with two storied Gallery
Joining of Double pillars
Sanctuary adjoining Quwwat ul-Islam mosque, showing material
from Hindu or Jain temple
 Improvement and extension

• Percy Brown observes, “[…] the interior of the Qutb mosque, although an
assembly of elegently carved stonework had more the character of an
archaeological miscellany than a considered work of architecture” (Indian
Architecture (Islamic Period), Bombay, 1975 (Sixth reprint) p. 10)
• In 1199 an arched façade was made on the east in front of Zullah
• The screen consisted of five stone arches which were over 50 feet height at the
centre and 108 feet wide and with a thickness of 8 feet and 6 inches.
• It was pierced by five openings, consisting of a large central archway measuring
45 feet high with a span of 22 feet
• Each side of the central arch two lesser archways were measuring 25 feet in
height.
• This arched screen of red sandstone was considered an attempt to give the
mosque façade an approach to Islamic architectural tradition
• Percy brown traces the screen as an organic work based on Islamic ideas though
the mesons were accordingly the indigenous. And no trace of old stone from
 the temple was found to be used in this part.
• The pointed arches with the ogee curves produced an effect of lightness which
was the necessary element for such massive form.

Arched Screen
 Ornamentation
• The contemporary historians writes, “Upon the surface of the façade was
engraved verses of the Koran in such a manner as could not be done in wax;
ascending so high that you would think the koran was going up to heaven and
again descending in another line so low that you would think it was coming
down from heaven ( Taju-l-Ma’asir of Hasan Nizami, Ibid, vol ll,)
Stone carving
Ceiling of the central dome
Hindu and Jain decorations on the pillars
Thank you