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Architecture
The Mughal Empire
Mosques and Tombs – 2
by Ashish Nangia
The reign of Shah Jahan was one of
unparalleled prosperity. The Mughal empire now stretched across almost the whole
subcontinent, and the imperial court was amongst the richest in the world. India
ran a flourishing trade with Europe and the East. Embassies and foreign
diplomats, among them the Englishman Thomas Roe, were present at the court. It
seemed that the empire would last forever.
Shah Jahan was a ruler exceptionally
given to be a patron of the arts and architecture. As most rulers did, one of
his first acts was to found a new city, Shahjahanabad, the fort of which we have
discussed previously. Along with military structures were also religious
buildings, like the Jama Masjid at Shahjahanabad, Agra and Agra fort.
Jama Masjid at Delhi
 The Jama Masjid at Shahjahanabad is
raised on a platform surrounded by arches, and is built on an exceptionally
grand scale. In fact, one of the requirements for the Viceroy’s house built by
the British (and now Rashtrapati Bhavan) was that its dome should be
higher than that of the Jama Masjid, as a symbol of the supremacy of British
power over the previous emperor.
The great central arch of the
frontispiece of the qibla qubba masks the dome behind, and chattris
set off the entrance pavilions. The Jama Masjid is accessed by monumental gates
and steps from the bazaar below.
Today the bustling bazaar around the masjid is
known for its delicacies and the roofs of the houses around the masjid form a
dense network of terraces from where ancient and time-honored sport like
kite-flying and pigeon-flying are still practiced.
 Mosques at Agra
The small but beautiful Moti Masjid
is in the precincts of Agra fort. This mosque entirely clad in white marble has
calligraphy in black marble, and perhaps served as an experiment in completely
decking a building in this material before the Taj Mahal.
Lahore
The Badshahi masjid in Lahore is
comparable to the one at Delhi in size and importance, but its splendid free
standing prayer hall has a minar at each corner, as does the courtyard. The
squatness of the corner minars, however, does no good to the proportions of the
mosque, and the decoration in terms of patterned panels on the sandstone clad
surface is more effete than a strong statement.
Abdur-Rahim Khan-i-khanan’s tomb at
Delhi
Late in Jahangir’s reign, Delhi
witnessed an evolution from the tomb type exemplified by Humayun’s tomb, which
had partially continued in Jahangir’s mausoleum as well. A tomb was built near
Humayun’s memorial for Abdur-Rahim, the khan-i-khanan during Akbar’s reign. For
the first time, this tomb is higher than it is wide, and the chattris on
the terrace crowd more closely around the main dome. This composition was to be
further experimented with in some more subsidiary tombs before its final refined
appearance in the Taj Mahal.
August 3, 2003
Image of Badshahi Masjid, Lahore under
license with Gettyimages.com
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