Indo-Islamic, Mughal and Colonial Architecture

A meeting of traditions

From the late twelfth century, the Turkish rulers of the Delhi Sultanate brought new building ideas from Central and West Asia – the true arch, the dome, minarets, the use of lime mortar and decoration with calligraphy, geometric patterns and arabesques rather than human figures. Indian craftsmen, trained in the trabeate (post-and-lintel) method and in rich sculptural carving, built these new forms. The result was Indo-Islamic architecture, a true synthesis that peaked under the Mughals. Later, European colonial rulers added Gothic, neo-classical and Indo-Saracenic styles. UPSC asks about the features of each phase, the builders of key monuments and their World Heritage status.

Key techniques introduced

• Arcuate construction – the true arch (built with voussoirs and a keystone) and the dome, replacing the corbelled arches and beams of earlier Indian buildings.
• Squinch and pendentive – devices to place a round dome on a square chamber.
• Lime mortar as a binding material, and red sandstone with white marble inlay.
• Pietra dura (*parchin kari*) – inlay of semi-precious stones in marble, perfected under Shah Jahan.
• Charbagh – a garden divided into four parts by water channels, symbolising paradise.
• Jaali – carved stone screens; chhatris (domed kiosks) borrowed from Rajput architecture.

The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)

Slave (Mamluk) dynasty.

• Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque (Delhi), begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, partly from materials of earlier temples; it uses corbelled arches.
• Qutb Minar, begun by Aibak and completed by Iltutmish, later repaired by Firoz Shah Tughlaq; about 73 metres high; UNESCO 1993 with the Qutb complex.
• Adhai Din ka Jhonpra (Ajmer), Aibak.
• Tomb of Iltutmish and Tomb of Balban, the latter with the first true arch in India.

Khalji dynasty. Alai Darwaza (1311), built by Alauddin Khalji at the Qutb complex – the first building with a true dome and true arches, in red sandstone and marble. Alauddin also built Siri Fort and the Hauz Khas tank.

Tughlaq dynasty. Austere, massive buildings with sloping (battered) walls: Tughlaqabad fort (Ghiyasuddin), the tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, and Firoz Shah Kotla, where Firoz moved two Ashokan pillars to Delhi.

Lodi dynasty. Octagonal tombs with verandahs and double domes begun in this period, as at Lodi Gardens (tomb of Sikandar Lodi).

Provincial styles

• Bengal – brick mosques with curved "bangla" cornices: Adina Mosque, Pandua; Dakhil Darwaza, Gaur.
• Jaunpur (Sharqi) – massive gateways: Atala Masjid.
• Gujarat – strong Hindu–Jain influence in carving: Jama Masjid, Ahmedabad; Sidi Saiyyed mosque with its tree-of-life jaali. Ahmedabad is India's first World Heritage City (2017).
• Malwa (Mandu) – Jahaz Mahal, Hindola Mahal, and Hoshang Shah's tomb, the first marble tomb in India.
• Deccan (Bahmani, Bijapur, Golconda) – Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur, tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah, with one of the world's largest domes and a whispering gallery; Charminar in Hyderabad (1591), built by Quli Qutb Shah; Golconda fort.
• Kashmir – wooden mosques such as the Shah Hamadan mosque.

The Mughals (1526–1857)

Babur and Humayun built little that survives, apart from mosques at Panipat and Sambhal.

Sher Shah Suri (1540–45) built his own tomb at Sasaram (Bihar), an octagonal tomb in a lake, and the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque in Delhi's Purana Qila.

Akbar (1556–1605) – a creative synthesis of Persian and Indian (especially Rajput and Gujarati) forms, mostly in red sandstone.

• Humayun's Tomb (Delhi, 1560s–1572) – built under the patronage of Hamida Banu Begum (Bega Begum), with a Persian architect, Mirak Mirza Ghiyas; the first garden tomb on the charbagh plan with a double dome, a model for the Taj Mahal; UNESCO 1993.
• Agra Fort (red sandstone, later marble palaces by Shah Jahan); UNESCO 1983.
• Fatehpur Sikri (1570s) – the capital city with the Buland Darwaza (built to commemorate the conquest of Gujarat), Jama Masjid, the tomb of Salim Chishti, the Panch Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas with its central pillar, and Jodha Bai's palace; UNESCO 1986.

Jahangir (1605–27) – more interest in painting and gardens: Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar, Akbar's tomb at Sikandra, and the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah in Agra, built by Nur Jahan for her father; the first Mughal building fully in white marble with pietra dura, called the "Baby Taj".

Shah Jahan (1628–58) – the golden age, with white marble, pietra dura and symmetrical design.

• Taj Mahal (Agra) – the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, built c. 1632–1653 under chief architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori; UNESCO 1983.
• Red Fort (Delhi) in Shahjahanabad, with the Diwan-i-Am and Diwan-i-Khas (where the Peacock Throne stood); UNESCO 2007.
• Jama Masjid (Delhi), the largest mosque in India of its time; Moti Masjid in Agra Fort.

Aurangzeb (1658–1707) – fewer buildings: the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, the Moti Masjid in the Red Fort, and the Bibi ka Maqbara in Aurangabad (built by his son Azam Shah for his mother), a smaller copy of the Taj. The Safdarjung's tomb (1754) marks the last phase.

Rajput and Sikh architecture

Rajput rulers built great hill forts – Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Amber, Jaisalmer and Gagron (together UNESCO 2013) – and palaces with jharokhas and chhatris. The Jantar Mantar observatories of Sawai Jai Singh II (Jaipur's is UNESCO 2010) show scientific interest. The Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, rebuilt in marble and gilded under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, blends Mughal and Rajput features.

Colonial architecture

• Portuguese – Baroque churches of Old Goa, such as the Basilica of Bom Jesus (with the relics of St Francis Xavier); UNESCO 1986.
• British Gothic revival – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus), Mumbai, by F.W. Stevens (1888); UNESCO 2004. The Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai became UNESCO in 2018.
• Neo-classical – Raj Bhavan (Kolkata), Town Hall (Mumbai).
• Indo-Saracenic – a mix of Mughal and Gothic elements: the Gateway of India (Mumbai, 1924, by George Wittet), Victoria Memorial (Kolkata), Madras High Court, Mysore Palace.
• New Delhi (1911–31) designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker: Rashtrapati Bhavan, the North and South Blocks and India Gate.
• After independence, Le Corbusier planned Chandigarh; his Capitol Complex is part of a transnational UNESCO site (2016).

Reading a monument in the exam hall

When a question names a monument, three quick steps help. First, identify the material and technique – red sandstone and corbelled arches suggest the early Sultanate; true domes and arches point to the Khaljis or later; white marble with pietra dura is Jahangir or Shah Jahan. Second, link it to its patron and purpose – a mosque for the Friday congregation, a tomb to display dynastic legitimacy, a fort for defence and court ceremony, or a stepwell and sarai for public welfare. Third, place it in a wider story – the Qutb complex shows conquest and adaptation, Fatehpur Sikri shows Akbar's search for a composite culture, and the Taj shows the wealth and confidence of a mature empire. Stepwells such as Rani ki Vav at Patan (UNESCO 2014) and Adalaj remind us that Hindu, Jain and Islamic patrons shared the same craftsmen and often the same forms. Using this approach, even a short answer can show analysis rather than memorised lists.

Mains practice question

"Indo-Islamic architecture was a synthesis rather than an import." Discuss with examples from the Sultanate and Mughal periods. (250 words)

Answer framework

• Intro: arrival of arch, dome, calligraphy; Indian craftsmen and materials.
• Sultanate examples: Qutb complex, Alai Darwaza, Tughlaq austerity, provincial styles (Gujarat, Bengal).
• Mughal synthesis: Humayun's Tomb, Fatehpur Sikri (Rajput–Gujarati), Taj Mahal.
• Conclusion: a shared heritage visible in later Rajput, Sikh and Indo-Saracenic buildings.