The world famous Taj Mahal is but one of the many magnificent buildings erected by the Mughal emperors who ruled India from the early sixteenth century through to the middle of the nineteenth. To date scholars have considered the most splendid of these works built by the rulers, while the lesser known or remotely situated structures have been ignored altogether. In this volume, Professor Catherine Asher considers the entire scope of architec- ture built under the auspices of the imperial Mughals and their subjects.

Professor Asher covers the precedents of Mughal style and traces the archi- tectural development of each monarchical reign. She shows that the evolution of imperial Mughal architectural taste and idiom was directly related to political and cultural ideology. This was the case from the planting of an ordered and regular garden, symbolic of paradise, and the building of state mosques, to the construction of an entire planned city, indicative of the emperor’s role as father to his people. Construction outside the center, which was often carried out by the nobility, was as important as developments within the major cities. Catherine Asher demonstrates how these agents of the emperor curried favor with their rulers by building large and permanent edifices in the imperial Mughal style.

Even though Mughal authority diminished considerably in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the imperial Mughal architectural style and taste served as a model for that in developing splinter states. This book shows how it represented the cultural and social values of the Mughals, which were cherished by Muslims living increasingly under western colonial rule.

In Architecture of Mughal India Catherine Asher presents the first compre- hensive study of Mughal architectural achievements. The work is lavishly illustrated and will be widely read by students and specialists of South Asian history and architecture as well as by anyone interested in the magnificent buildings of the Mughal empire.

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

THE NEW CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF INDIA

Architecture of Mughal India

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

THE NEW CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF INDIA

General editor GORDON JOHNSON

Director, Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Selwyn College

Associate editors C. A. BAYLY

Professor of Modern Indian History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of St Catharine’s College

and JOHN F, RICHARDS Professor of History, Duke University

Although the original Cambridge History of India, published between 1922 and 1937, did much to formulate a chronology for Indian history and describe the administrative structures of government in India, it has inevitably been overtaken by the mass of new research published over the last fifty years.

Designed to take full account of recent scholarship and changing con- ceptions of South Asia’s historical development, The New Cambridge History of India will be published as a series of short, self-contained volumes, each dealing with a separate theme and written by a single person, within an overall four-part structure. As before, each will conclude with a substantial bibliographical essay designed to lead non- specialists further into the literature.

The four parts are as follows:

I The Mughals and their Contemporaries. If Indian States and the Transition to Colonialism. WI The Indian Empire and the Beginnings of Modern Society. IV The Evolution of Contemporary South Asia.

A list of individual titles already published and those i in preparation will be found at the end of the volume.

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

THE NEW CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF

INDIA

I: 4 Architecture of Mughal India

CATHERINE B. ASHER

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

5 CAMBRIDGE

ES UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge ca2 2Ru, UK 40 West 2oth Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcén 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa

hup://www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 1992

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 1992 Reprinted 2001, 2003

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Asher, Catherine Ella Blanshard. Architecture of Mughal India / Catherine B. Asher. p. cm.-(The New Cambridge history of India) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN © §21 26728 5 1. Architecture, Mogul. 2. Architecture, Islamic — India. 1. Title. 11. Series.

DS436.N47 1992 [Na1502] 954S8—dc20 [720’.954] 91-31§72 CIP

ISBN © §21 26728 5 hardback

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

CONTENTS

List of plates page viii General editor’s preface xvii Preface xix List of abbreviations XXill Glossary XXV

Map of major pre-Mughal and Mughal

sites XXX 1 Precedents for Mughal architecture I 2 The beginnings of Mughal

architecture 19 3 The age of Akbar 39 4 Jahangir: an age of transition 99

5 Shah Jahan and the crystallization of

Mughal style 169 6 Aurangzeb and the Islamization of

the Mughal style 252 7 Architecture and the struggle for

authority under the later Mughals

and their successor states 292 Bibliographical essays 335 Index 357

vil

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we N

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PLATES

Plan of Aibek’s Jamie mosque (the Quwwat al-Islam mosque), Delhi. After J. A. Page

Screen of Aibek’s Jami mosque

‘Alai Darwaza, Quwwat al-Islam mosque, Delhi Plan of Jamit mosque, Lodi Gardens, Delhi

Qalca-i Kuhna mosque, Delhi

Pool, Bagh-i Nilufar (Lotus garden), Dholpur

Plan of Babur’s mosque (Kabuli Bagh mosque), Panipat Babur’s mosque, Panipat

Mir Hindu Beg’s mosque, Sambhal

Mir Baqi’s mosque (the Baburi mosque), Ayodhya Sher Mandal, Delhi

Humayun’s mosque (the Kachpura mosque), Agra Mihrab on screen around Amir Khusrau’s tomb, Delhi Humayuni mosque, Fatehabad

Gate, Khair al-Manazil mosque, Delhi

Partial facade, tomb of Ataga Khan, Delhi

Tomb of Adham Khan, Delhi

Humayun’s tomb, Delhi

Plan of Humayun’s tomb. After A. Volwahsen Akbar’s palace, Ajmer

Jahangiri Mahal, Agra fort, Agra

Plan of major structures at Akbar’s palace, Fatehpur Sikri.

After Attilio Petruccioli

Buland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Plan of the Jamie mosque, Fatehpur Sikri

vill

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12 13 23 26 27 29 31 33 35 36 37 42 43 44 45 47 48 49

53

54 55

25

26 27

28

29

30

31

32

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 4S 46 47 48 49

LIST OF PLATES

Jamic mosque, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti, Fatehpur Sikri

Hiran Minar, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Akbar’s throne, Public Audience Hall, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology Carved panel, Turkish Sultana’s House, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Akbar’s jharoka, exterior facade, Daftar Khana, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Diwan-i Khass, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Interior pillar, Diwan-i Khass, Fatehpur Sikri. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology Panch Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri

Govind Deva temple, Brindavan

Jagat Shiromani temple, Amber

Jharoka, Rohtas palace, Rohtas

Jamic mosque, Rajmahal

Plan of the Jamie mosque, Rajmahal

Minbar, Jami mosque, Nagaur

Akbari mosque, Ajmer

Gate, dargah of Sayyid Husain Khing Sawar, Taragarh, Ajmer Tomb of Muhammad Ghaus, Gwalior

Tomb of Shah Quli Khan, Narnaul

Shah Quli Khan’s pavilion (the Jal Mahal), Narnaul

Tomb of Saqi Sultan, Rohtas

Mun‘im Khan’s bridge, Jaunpur

Hammam, Jaunpur

Gate, Chunar fort, Chunar

Mosque of Habash Khan, Rohtas

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59

60

61

62

63

64 65 69 7O 71 73 ro) 77 78 79 82 83 85 86 87 89 go 91

50 51 52 53 54

59 56

57 58

59 60 61 62

63 64 65 66 67 68 69 79

72 73 74

75

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LIST OF PLATES

Interior, Makhsus Khan’s mosque (the Jamic mosque), Hajipur Murad Khan Qaqshal’s mosque (the Kherua mosque), Sherpur Jamic mosque, Malda

Nim Serai Minar, Malda

Jahangir’s throne, now in the Agra fort

Shah Begum’s tomb, Allahabad

Akbar’s tomb, Sikandra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Interior top story, Akbar’s tomb, Sikandra

Gate, Akbar’s tomb, Sikandra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Detail, pavilion, Jahangiri Quadrangle, Lahore fort, Lahore Interior dome, Kala Burj, Lahore fort. Ebba M. Koch

Tiles, exterior walls, Lahore fort, Lahore

Interior dome, Maryam al-Zamani’s mosque (the Begum Shahi mosque), Lahore

Hunting pavilion, Pushkar

Pavilion, upper terrace, Chesma-i Nur, Ajmer

Pavilion, lower terrace, Chesma-i Nur, Ajmer

Garden, Achibal. Jonathan M. Fishman

Pool, Vernag

Tower, Sheikhupura

Serai Nur Mahal, Serai Nur Mahal. Ebba M. Koch

Pavilion, Bagh-i Nur Afshan (the Ram Bagh), Agra

Tomb of Ictimad al-Daula, Agra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Detail of inlay, Ietimad al-Daula’s tomb, Agra

Interior top story, I*timad al-Daula’s tomb, Agra. Linda Connor Plan of Shahi Bagh (the Moti Bagh), Ahmadabad. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology Shahi Bagh, Ahmadabad. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Tomb of Shaikh Wajih al-Din, Ahmadabad. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

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105

107

109

III 114 115 116

117 120 121 123 125 126 127 129 130

131 133 135 136

137

138

77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 gI 92 93

94 95 96 97 98 99 100 Io! 102 103 104 105 106

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LIST OF PLATES

Serai Doraha, Lahore—Delhi road. Wayne Begley Tomb of Muhammad Mumin Husaini, Nakodar. Subhash Parihar Mirza ¢Aziz Koka Khan-i Aczam’s tomb, Delhi Entrance, serai, Chatta

Partial facade, Kanch Mahal, Agra

Muttamad Khan’s mosque, Agra

Detail of Muctamad Khan’s mosque, Agra

Khusrau’s tomb, Allahabad

Interior dome, Sultan Nisar Begum’s tomb, Allahabad Interior, Sultan Nisar Begum’s tomb

Gate, Shah Qasim Sulaiman’s dargah, Chunar

Detail of gate, Shah Qasim Sulaiman’s dargah, Chunar Iftikhar Khan’s tomb, Chunar

Plan of Iftikhar Khan’s tomb, Chunar

Shah Daulat’s tomb (the Chotti Dargah), Maner

Plan of Shah Daulat’s tomb, Maner

Tomb of Makhdum Sahib (the Maskan-i Barari tomb), Champanagar

Bukhari mosque, Bihar Sharif

Bridge, Khurramabad

Central mihrab, Mirza Ma‘sum’s Jami* mosque, Patna Jamie mosque, Atiya. David McCutchion

Jahangir: Mandir, Orchha

Bir Singh’s palace, Datia

Entrance, Bir Singh’s palace, Datia

Jugal Kishore temple, Brindavan

Raja Rani temple, Kharagpur

Jahangir’s tomb, Lahore. Marcella Nesom

Pavilions on Ana Sagar, Ajmer

Jamis mosque, Ajmer

Mihrab, Jami mosque, Ajmer

Pavilion within the Shah Burj (the Shish Mahal), Lahore fort, Lahore

Pavilion within the Shah Burj (the Naulakha), Lahore fort, Lahore

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139 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Ig 152 153 154 155

156 1§7 158 159 161 162

165 166 167 173 175 176 177

180 181

109

IIo

III

II2

113 114 11g

116 117

118

119

120

I2I

123

124

LIST OF PLATES

Exterior, Chehil Sutun (the Diwan-i ‘Amm or Public Audience Hall), Agra fort, Agra

Jbaroka from inside the Public Audience Hall, Agra fort, Agra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Throne, in a quadrangle known as the Macchi Bhavan, with the Private Audience Hall in the rear, Agra fort, Agra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology Interior, Shah Burj (the Musamman Burj), Agra fort, Agra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Exterior view of the public viewing pavilion, Agra fort, Agra The Nagina mosque, Agra fort, Agra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Jamie mosque (the Moti mosque), Agra fort, Agra

Jamis mosque, Agra

Plan of the Jamie mosque, Agra

Plan of the Shahjahanabad fort (the Red Fort), Delhi. After

O. Reuther

Jharoka, Daulat Khana-i Khass o ‘Amm (the Public Audience Hall), Shahjahanabad fort, Delhi. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Interior, Shah Burj, Shahjahanabad fort, Delhi. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology Exterior, Daulat Khana-i Khass (Private Audience Hall), Shahjahanabad fort, Delhi. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Scales of justice, Shahjahanabad fort, Delhi. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Pool, Imtiyaz Mahal (the Rang Mahal), Shahjahanabad, Delhi. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Jamis mosque, Shahjahanabad, Delhi xil

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184

186 187

188 189 190

191

192

195

197

198

199

201

203

125 126

127 128 129 130

131

132 133 134 135

136 137 138 139

140 141

142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 1g 152

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LIST OF PLATES

Interior niche, Jami¢ mosque, Shahjahanabad, Delhi

Raushan Ara’s tomb, Delhi. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Jharoka, Lal Mahal, Bari

Pavilion, Sheikhupura

Pavilion, Shalimar garden, Srinagar

Tank, Shalimar garden, Lahore

Tomb of Mumtaz Mahal (the Taj Mahal), Agra. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology Mosque of Mulla Shah Badakhshi, Srinagar

Chauburji, Lahore

Mihrab, Jami* mosque, Thatta

Entrance, Azam Khan’s serai, Ahmadabad. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Tomb of Khwaja Husain, Ajmer

Mihrab, Miyan Bai’s mosque, Ajmer

eIdgah, Merta

Muhammad Sharif Quraishi’s mosque (the Kachehri mosque), Didwana

Wazir Khan’s mosque, Lahore. Marcella Nesom

Central bay of facade, mosque of Maqbul (Dai Anga’s mosque), Lahore

Shaikh Chilli’s tomb, Thanesar

Mugarrab Khan’s tomb, Panipat

Tomb of Firuz Khan, Agra

Detail of carving on entrance, Firuz Khan’s tomb, Agra Interior dome, Chini-ka Rauza, Agra

Shahi Madrasa mosque, Agra

‘Idgah, Agra

Central mihrab, Saif Khan’s <Idgah, Patna

Central entrance, mosque of Hajji Tatar, Patna

Mosque of Habib Khan Sur, Bihar Sharif

Raja Bahroz’s mosque, Kharagpur

Tomb of Malik Wisal, Akbarpur

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205 206 207 209

210

211 216 217

219

220 221 222

223

224

225

227 229 230 231 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240

241

154 TS5 156 1§7 158 1599 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168

170 I7I 172 173

174 175

176 177 178 179 180 181

182

184 185

LIST OF PLATES

Mosque, Lalbagh fort, Dhaka

Palace pavilion (the Sangi Dalan), Rajmahal

Lukochori Darwaza, Gaur

Interior courtyard, Rai Mukhand Das’ mansion, Narnaul Ganesh Pol, palace, Amber

Jai Mandir (the Shish Mahal), palace, Amber

Facade, Moti mosque, Shahjahanabad, Delhi

Courtyard wall, Moti mosque, Shahjahanabad, Delhi Badshahi mosque, Lahore

Detail of interior stucco, Badshahi mosque, Lahore ‘Idgah, Mathura

Delhi gate, Aurangabad

Tomb of Rabita Daurani (the Bibi-ka Maqbara), Aurangabad Tomb of Jahan Ara, Delhi

Mosque of Zinat al-Nisa, Delhi

Tomb of Shaikh «Ala al-Din (the Sola Khamba), Ajmer Mosque of Sayyid Muhammad, Ajmer

cAbd Allah Khan’s wife’s tomb, Ajmer

Jamis mosque, Merta

Sardar Khan’s tomb, Ahmadabad. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Interior dome, tomb of Dai Anga, Lahore

Gate from southwest, madrasa of Ghazi al-Din, today Zakir Husain College, Delhi

Mosque in madrasa of Ghazi al-Din, Delhi

Jamie mosque, Mathura

Pavilion on courtyard, Jami mosque, Mathura

Jamit mosque, Gwalior

Partial facade, Gynavapi mosque, Benares

Jamic mosque (Aurangzeb’s mosque), Benares

Entrance, Dacud Khan’s serai, Daudnagar

Nauratan, Bihar Sharif

Interior of dome, mosque of Khwaja ‘Amber, Patna Tomb of Fateh Khan, Gaur

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243 244 245 247 248 249 256 257 258 259 261 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270

271

273

274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284

186 187 188 189 190 Ig! 192 193 194 195

196 197 198 199 200

201

202

203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214

215

LIST OF PLATES

Audience Hall, Lalbagh, Dhaka

Satgumbad mosque, Dhaka

Mosque of Khan Muhammad Mirza, Dhaka

Interior, mosque of Hajji Khwaja Shahbaz, Dhaka

Tomb of Khwaja Anwar-i Shahid, Burdwan

Mosque of Zain al-Abidin (the Lal mosque), Aurangabad Shah ¢Alam Bahadur’s mosque (the Moti mosque), Delhi Farrukh Siyar’s gate, Dargah Bakhtiyar Kaki, Delhi Muhammad Shah’s tomb, Delhi

Partial facade, Raushan al-Daula’s mosque (the Sunahri mosque), Chandni Chowk, Delhi

Fakhr al-Masajid, Delhi

Muhtasib’s mosque, Delhi

Mosque of Tahawwur Khan, Delhi

Jantar Mantar, Delhi

Raushan al-Daula’s mosque (the Sunahri mosque), Darayaganj, Delhi

Qudsiya Bagh mosque, Delhi. American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology

Mosque of Qudsiya Begum and Javid Khan (the Sunahri mosque), Delhi

Qudsiya Begum’s Shahi Mardan mosque, Delhi

Safdar Jang’s tomb, Delhi

Lal Bangala tomb, Delhi

Lal Kunwar’s mosque, Delhi

Mosque of Hamid «Ali Khan, Delhi

Interior column, Hamid ‘Ali Khan’s mosque

cAli Jah’s pavilion, Ajmer

‘Idgah, Ajmer

cAbd Allah Khan’s tomb, Ajmer

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur

Baradari, Lahore fort

Palace, Dig, Bharatpur District

Hasan Reza Khan’s mosque (the Chowk mosque), Faizabad

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297 298 299 300

301

302

393

304 395 306 397 308 399 311 312 313 314 315 317 319 320

216 217

218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225

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LIST OF PLATES

Bahu Begum’s tomb, Faizabad

Gate, Kaiser Bagh in 1858, Lucknow. Attributed to Felice Beatto, courtesy of Rosie Llewellyn-Jones

Rumi Darwaza, Lucknow. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones

Tomb of Lal Khan, Benares

Tomb of Shamsher Khan, Shamshernagar

Mosque of Mir Ashraf, Patna

Bawli Hall mosque, Patna

Jamic mosque (the Katra mosque), Murshidabad

Munni Begum’s Jamit mosque (the Chowk mosque), Murshidabad Murshidabad palace, Murshidabad

Sadig cAli’s mosque (the Chotte Chowk-ki Masjid), Murshidabad

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GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE

The New Cambridge History of India covers the period from the beginning of the sixteenth century. In some respects it marks a radical change in the style of Cambridge Histories, but in others the editors feel that they are working firmly within an established academic tradition.

During the summer of 1896, F. W. Maitland and Lord Acton between them evolved the idea for a comprehensive modern history. By the end of the year the Syndics of the University Press had committed themselves to the Cambridge Modern History, and Lord Acton had been put in charge of it. It was hoped that publication would begin in 1899 and be completed by 1904, but the first volume in fact came out in 1902 and the last in 1910, with additional volumes of tables and maps in 1911 and 1912.

The History was a great success, and it was followed by a whole series of distinctive Cambridge histories covering English Literature, the Ancient World, India, British Foreign Policy, Economic History, Medieval History, the British Empire, Africa, China and Latin America; and even now other new series are being prepared. Indeed, the various Histories have given the Press notable strength in the publication of general reference books in the arts and social sciences.

What has made the Cambridge Histories so distinctive is that they have never been simply dictionaries or encyclopedias. The Histories have, in H. A. L. Fisher’s words, always been ‘written by an army of specialists concentrating the latest results of special study’. Yet, as Acton agreed with the Syndics in 1896, they have not been mere compilations of existing material but original works. Undoubtedly many of the Histories are uneven in quality, and some have become out of date very rapidly, but their virtue has been that they have consistently done more than simply record an existing state of knowledge: they have tended to focus interest on research and they have provided a massive stimulus to further work. This has made their publication doubly worthwhile and has distinguished them intellectually from other sorts of reference book. The editors of the New Cambridge History of India have acknowledged this in their work.

The original Cambridge History of India was published between 1922 and 1937. It was planned in six volumes, but of these, volume 11 dealing with the period between the first century aD and the Muslim invasion of India never appeared. Some of the material is still of value, but in many respects it is now

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GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE

out of date. The last fifty years have seen a great deal of new research on India, and a striking feature of recent work has been to cast doubt on the validity of the quite arbitrary chronological and categorical way in which Indian history has been conventionally divided.

The editors decided that it would not be academically desirable to prepare a new History of India using the traditional format. The selective nature of research on Indian history over the past half-century would doom such a project from the start and the whole of Indian history could not be covered in an even or comprehensive manner. They concluded that the best scheme would be to have a History divided into four overlapping chronological volumes, each containing about eight short books on individual themes or subjects. Although in extent the work will therefore be equivalent to a dozen massive tomes of the traditional sort, in form the New Cambridge History of India will appear as a shelf full of separate but complementary parts. Accordingly, the main divisions are between 1. The Mughals and their Contemporaries, 11. Indian States and the Transition to Colonialism, 111. The Indian Empire and the Beginnings of Modern Society, and 1v. The Evolution of Contemporary South Asia.

Just as the books within these volumes are complementary so too do they intersect with each other, both thematically and chronologically. As the books appear they are intended to give a view of the subject as it now stands and to act as a stimulus to further research. We do not expect the New Cambridge History of India to be the last word on the subject but an essential voice in the continuing discussion about it.

XVIll

PREFACE

Just over fifty years have passed since Percy Brown summarized what was then known about Mughal architecture in his fifty-page contribution to volume Iv of the original Cambridge History of India. We have learned a great deal since then as we have probed primarily the imperial monuments produced under Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. But our focus has been more on individual monuments than on the larger picture of Mughal architecture. That compre- hensive view must be based on an analysis of individual monuments, but how those monuments relate to common themes and to the larger enterprise of the Mughal empire is the tale most importantly told.

Volumes in the New Cambridge History of India series are intended to summarize what is currently known about a subject. This volume, however, seeks to go beyond that mandate both by presenting a great deal of new material and also by providing a framework for understanding Mughal archi- tecture. As indicated by the bibliographical essays at the end of this volume, much of the material presented here is drawn from old field reports of the Archaeological Survey of India, list-like memoirs on sites, and epigraphical reports. But many of the monuments are “discoveries” I made in the course of extensive field work and are presented here for the first time. I see this volume, though, as much more than a catalogue presentation of monuments. Rather, it represents a first-ever attempt to organize this vast body of raw data — essen- tially the monuments themselves — into a coherent framework. The results are intended more as a springboard from which future research might commence than as a final statement on Mughal architecture.

When I was first approached by the editor of the series to write a volume on Mughal architecture, the unstated understanding was that it would essentially cover the first 150 years of Mughal art, with an emphasis on the period from 1565 to 1658, traditionally considered the apex of artistic production. How- ever, extending the study of architectural production to 1858, the end of the Mughal regime, better reflects historical and cultural developments throughout the period.

This work is organized chronologically. It commences with a short chapter on the precedents of the Mughal style. More coverage here is given to Indian precedents than to Timurid ones because this volume belongs to a series on India. Subsequent chapters coincide with monarchical reigns. Chapter 2 is

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PREFACE

concerned with the period when India was ruled by the first Mughal emperors, Babur and Humayun; chapter 3 is concerned with Akbar’s reign, a period of consolidation and nascent maturity in Mughal history; chapter 4 covers Jahangir’s rule, a time usually regarded as a transition between Akbar’s inno- vative reforms and Shah Jahan’s formalization of the Mughal state; chapter 5 considers Shah Jahan and the crystallization of Mughal architecture; chapter 6 concerns architecture under Aurangzeb and chapter 7 deals with architecture under the later Mughal rulers and their successor states. This last period, one rarely considered in any discussion of Mughal art, is traditionally regarded as a period of decline and decadence. I have here attempted to consider this material on less judgmental grounds. In addition, much of the material covered in chapter 7 is not strictly Mughal. Rather, it concerns monuments constructed under Islamic successor states in the case of Awadh and Murshidabad, under Hindu states in the case of Dig and Jaipur, or even under a Sikh state in the case of Amritsar. This material is included for two reasons. On the one hand there is an issue of stylistic links, but more significantly there is the issue of ideological links between the Mughals and these states. This is especially appar- ent with Awadh and Murshidabad, the successor states discussed at greatest length.

Each chapter is roughly divided into two sections. The first concerns imperial patronage. The second section, intended as a mirror of the first, discusses patronage of the nobility, regardless of religious affiliation, within the various regions of the Mughal empire. I have chosen to discuss what might be considered provincial architecture at length because it is the tension between the architecture of the center and that in the provinces that reflects the very nature of the Mughal state. This approach delves into issues of periphery versus center that are, in essence, insights into the carefully yet constantly fluctuating relationships between the ruler and nobility, vital for the maintenance of the Mughal state. Thus a study of such patronage provides insight into the motivation to build as well as into the relationship between the emperor and his nobles. The Mughal state and its subjects are here consid- ered from the Mughal point of view. That is the focus, for example, of com- ments on the work of active architectural patrons such as Raja Man Singh and Raja Bir Singh who were high-ranking Mughal amirs yet Hindu rajas in their own right. Mughal architecture in this volume thus transcends a narrow definition that might limit the focus to imperial or Muslim architecture. Rather, Mughal architecture as discussed in this book reflects the nature of a state that relies on its nobility as a link with lesser princes, landholders and ordinary subjects and incorporates its non-Muslim majority into its administration.

The term India is used throughout this volume in a historical sense and includes the modern republics of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

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PREFACE

The geographical sub-divisions roughly reflect modern regions. Modern names are used: for example, Rajasthan in lieu of Suba Ajmer or Suba Agra. This is done for general ease of comprehension; those who wish to understand the Mughal political divisions should consult Irfan Habib, An Atlas of the Mughal Empire, Delhi, 1982.

The spellings adopted here generally conform to common ones. Joseph Schwartzberg, A Historical Atlas of South Asia, Chicago, 1978, is the basis for spelling of place names. Transcriptions of less well-known Persian words are adapted from Steingass, Persian—English Dictionary. No diacriticals are used, except the “ain, indicated by «. Words found in English language dictionaries are not treated as foreign; others are italicized. On p. xxv is a glossary including most terms used here.

The Islamic lunar calendar does not correspond with the solar Gregorian one used by much of the modern world. Thus a monument dated in a particular year of the Muslim, or Hijra, era, will usually fall into a frame corresponding to contiguous halves of two solar years. Thus, for example, the Jamit mosque at Fatehpur Sikri, bearing the date 982 aH, was built in 1574-75. However, monuments here dated to the equivalent of a single Gregorian year have a specific day or month in their dedicatory inscription, thus allowing a more precise Gregorian date to be determined. In a few cases, textual or historical references permit use of a single year.

The photographs, unless credited otherwise, were taken by the author. In many cases the monuments, once situated in open gardens or unimpeded space, are now part of crowded urban developments. Thus many views, less than ideal and certainly not idyllic, are unavoidable.

The American Institute of Indian Studies, the Smithsonian Institution, the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT and Harvard, the Univer- sity of Minnesota and the American Council of Learned Societies helped to support this research. For this, I am most grateful.

There are many people, far too many to mention here, whose expertise has helped in the creation of this work. Among those to whom I am especially indebted are V. R. Nambiar, M. A. Dhaky, Jagdish Yadav, the late Gyan Valu, Vidu Bushan and N. Ravi of the American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology, Varanasi, Pradeep Mehendiratta, Director of the American Institute of Indian Studies, the current and recent Directors General of the Archaeological Survey of India, especially M. C. Joshi. Janice Leoshko, Thomas and Barbara Metcalf, Susan and John Huntington, John Richards, Sajida Alvi, S. R. Dar, George Michell, Z. A. Desai, Donald Clay Johnson, Joseph Schwartzberg, Annette Jones, Mark Zutkoff, and S. M. Yunus Jaffery all provided immeasurable help and advice. Molly Cole and Charles Griebel patiently organized plates and plans. Philip Schwartzberg prepared the map. Gill Thomas and Margaret Sharman were excellent editors.

XX1

PREFACE

Tremendous credit goes to Tom and Alice Asher for enduring endless field trips and dinner conversations centering on Mughal architecture. But above all I must thank my husband, Rick, for his support of me and this project, for hours of critical reading and constant encouragement. To him I dedicate this

book.

XX

ABBREVIATIONS

Ain Abu al-Fazl, A’in-i Akbari Akbar Nama _ Abual-Fazl, Akbar Nama ARIE Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy ASIR Archaeological Survey of India Reports EIAPS Epigraphia Indica: Arabic and Persian Supplement List List of Muhammadan and Hindu Monuments: Delhi Province Maasir Samsam al-Daula Shah Nawaz Khan and «Abd al-Hayy, Maasir al-Umara Sourcebook G.D. Lowry and M. Brand, Fatehpur-Sikri: A Sourcebook Tuzuk Nur al-Din Muhammad Jahangir, Tuzuk-i Jahangiri XXili

aiwan

aramgah arcuated

bagh Baghdadi octagon

bangala

baoli

baradari baraka bulghur khana chajja chakravartin chandrashala

char bagh

chattri chau chala

Chehil Sutun

chilla khana chiraqdan Chishti

chowk chowk-i jilo khana

chuna

GLOSSARY

usually a vaulted entrance or hall, but in Mughal India a pillared gallery

chamber within a palace for rest or sleeping construction dependent on arches or the arch principle

garden

an octagon with alternate sides larger than the inter- mediate ones

a curved roof whose two sides meet at a single spine or ridge; the term derives from the shape of roofs on Bengali huts

a deep step well, found especially in western India

a pillared pavilion

divine power emanating from a saint’s shrine

a kitchen for the needy

overhanging eaves

an Indian term for a universal ruler

elaborate niche-like structure crowned with an ogee arch

in Mughal India a garden divided into quadrants by running water courses

a domed kiosk supported on pillars

a vault with four curved sides that meet at a curved central ridge or spine

a 40-pillared hall; in the Mughal context a Public Audience Hall

a saint’s house of meditation

lamp stand

the most popular sufi order in India; the major Chishti saint discussed here is Musin al-Din; others include Shaikh Salim Nizam al-Din and Bakhtiyar Kaki

a market; a public area

a forecourt

lime plaster, usually highly burnished

XXV

dado Dai Anga

dargah darshan

darwaza Daulat Khana-i Khass Daulat Khana-i Khass 0 ‘Amm dig Din-i Ilahi

Diwan-i ‘Amm Diwan-i Khass diwan-i kull faqir

farman

faujdar

ghat

ghazi

Ghusl Khana

guldasta gumbad

hadis (also hadith) hajj

hammam hasht behisht Husainiya

Id

‘Idgah

GLOSSARY

the finishing of an interior wall from the floor to about waist height

a wet-nurse; the focus here is on imperial wet-nurses who are women of considerable power and influence a saint’s shrine, often the center of pilgrimage beholding; in the Mughal context, the viewing of the emperor at the jharoka; the practice derives from the Hindu notion of beholding a deity

a gateway or entrance

a Private Audience Hall

a Public Audience Hall

cauldron

disciple-like relationship between Akbar and his closest amirs

a popular name today for a Public Audience Hall

a popular name today for a Private Audience Hall the Mughal finance minister

a holy man; an itinerant monk

an imperial decree or order

a law and order official; police

an embankment, usually stepped

a warrior for Islam

a private audience hall for the emperor’s closest advisers

a finial

literally a dome, but often used for pre-Mughal tombs

sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad

the pilgrimage to Mecca mandatory for all able Muslims

a bath with hot, cold and warm chambers modeled on ancient Romen baths; today these are often called Turkish baths

eight-paradises

another term for Imambara, although Husainiya are generally smaller than Imambara

Muslim festivals, one to break the fast of Ramadan and the other a sacrificial festival on the tenth day of the last month of the Muslim calendar

a mosque where the ‘Id prayers are said; often this mosque consists only of a qibla wall

XXV1

Imambara

Imtiyaz Mahal

jagir

Jagirdar

jali

Jamic mosque

Jat jharoka

jharoka-i daulat khana khass o‘amm

jihad

jinn

jiziya

kafir

kar khana

kashi kari khanqah khutba khwabgah khwaja

khwajasera kos minar kungura madrasa mahzar mansab mansabdar mansabdari mehman khana mihrab minbar muhtasib murid mutawali

GLOSSARY

a large hall for the celebration of Muharram and for storing ta‘ziya

a pavilion in Shah Jahan’s Delhi palace known as the Hall of Distinction; today it is popularly called the Rang Mahal

an assignment of revenues in lieu of salary

the holder of a jagir

pierced carved stone screen

a congregational mosque

an agricultural group found predominantly in north India and modern Pakistan

a window or balcony from which an emperor dis- plays himself to his subjects or nobles; a throne

the ceremonial viewing balcony in the Public Audience Hall

holy war

a spirit who can be malevolent or benevolent

tax on non-Muslims

a non-Muslim; an idolater or pagan

workshop or center of production for goods required within a palace

tile mosaic

a residential center for spiritual study

prayer legitimizing an Islamic ruler’s sovereignty

a chamber in a palace for sleeping

a title used by officials, religious scholars, and men of distinction

a eunuch

conical towers that mark distances

battlements

a school for religious instruction, a college

a declaration; a decree

rank in the Mughal administrative system

rank holder

matters concerning rank

a guest chamber or house

a prayer niche in a gibla wall

a pulpit from which the Friday sermon is delivered an official who supervises public morals

the follower or