Mughal Architecture

Mughal architecture refers to a tradition of grand and visionary building undertaken by a succession of Mughal emperors who, from mid-seventeenth century to early eighteenth century, ruled a vast empire that included most of northern India as well as areas of modern-day Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. That diversity would be reflected in their architecture. After a series of decisive military victories in India in the early decades of the sixteenth century, the Moghul emperors sought in their monumental building projects to bring together elements of Islamic, Persian (Iranian), Chinese, and Indian aesthetics, a deliberate attempt to synthesize the rich diversity of the cultures over which they now ruled. Indeed, architectural historians compare the four generations of Moghul emperors who shaped this ambitious architectural vision to the ancient Egyptians, with their belief that the buildings, daunting and decidedly immodest in scale, reflected both the greatness of its people and the power of its rulers and ultimately guaranteed for that culture immortality itself.

Background

Although the invading Mughal warlords were renowned for their fierce fighting skills and their battlefield cunning, the court their emperors established in Agra encouraged the flourishing of the arts as well—painting, textiles, carvings, illuminated manuscripts, jewelry, music, dance. Beginning in earnest with the reign of Humanyun (1508–1556), this renaissance in the arts, however, was most boldly proclaimed in audacious building projects that sought to manifest the empire’s growing strength and the dominant power of the emperor. It was Humanyan’s son, Akbar the Great, who reigned for nearly fifty years, who is regarded as primarily responsible for defining the breadth and range of Mughal architecture. Akbari architecture— Humanyan’s massive tomb in Delhi, the red sand fortress at Agra (a UNESCO World Heritage site), the planned capital city of Fatehpur Sikri and its magnificent entrance gate, Buland Darwaza, with its legendary million steps, commemorating Akbar’s military triumphs—encouraged court architects to push available engineering technology to new heights in an effort to realize ambitious projects designed to elicit awe and instill in a captive, culturally diverse people a sense of unity and even pride.

Akbar’s son, Jahangir, continued the legacy of architectural projects but pursued far more diligently his own interest in painting and in the sciences. Under his rule, fewer projects were sponsored, and they were for the most part mosques. Jahangir is widely credited for introducing the era’s signature use of imported white marble in its religious edifices. The era, however, would reach its greatest expression in the reign of Jahangir’s son, Shah Jahan (1628–1658). To the inherited sense of a building’s scale and size, embodying as it were the strength and power of the emperor, Shah Jahan brought to such magnificent constructs a sense of delicacy in detailing, an aesthetic of refinement that gave to these spacious monumental buildings a refined sense of mathematical balance and symmetry as well as interiors that were elaborately ornamented with inlaid patterns of enameled marble and jewels. In addition, Jahan brought to Mughal architectural schemes a visionary sense of landscaping that endowed the edifices with sumptuous gardens, reflecting pools, and carefully laid out pathways. Under Jahan, Mughal architecture became both majestic and graceful, forceful and aesthetically pleasing. Although the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore and the grand mosque in Jama Masjid are compelling, undoubtedly Jahan’s most enduring achievement is the mausoleum he ordered built for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, completed in Agra in 1648. The haunting Taj Mahal is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Jahan’s son, Aurangzeb (r. 1659–1707) brought the era of Mughal architecture to its close. He lacked the artistic temperament and visionary coherence of his ancestors.

Overview

To simply list the distinguishing features of Mughal architecture is to ignore the most important element of the school’s achievement: the experience of it. These were grandly conceived buildings, designed for a functional purpose—public buildings, places of worship, tombs, fortresses—but they were designed to dazzle, to compel wonder. To achieve their sense of awe, however, the architects, drawing from the long tradition of Persian art, worked mathematical precision and balance into the design. From a central focal idea—most often a single sweeping dome—the building would maintain a tight symmetry, balancing, for instance, minarets on each corner or matching parapets or tiny cupolas. To access the interiors, visitors would mount grand staircases under magnificent arches that give the building its feeling of sublimity. The buildings’ courtyards and vast interior rooms, spacious chambers with lofty ceilings, were decorated with ornate and elegant mosaics, often inlayed with precious jewels and highlighted with gold. In addition, Mughal architecture developed a keen sense of the potential narrative richness that could be added from landscaping, lush gardens cut into neat balanced sections by walkways or water features.

Bibliography

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Kavuri-Bauer, Santhi. Monumental Matters: The Power, Subjectivity, and Space of India’s Mughal Architecture. Durham: Duke UP, 2011. Print.

Koch, Ebba. Mughal Architecture: An Outline of Its History and Development, 1526–1858. Delhi: Primus, 2014. Print.

Mitchell, George. The Majesty of Mughal Decoration: The Art and Architecture of Islamic India. London: Thames, 2007. Print.

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