Bayana: The Sources of Mughal Architecture

by Mehrdad Shokoohy, Natalie H. Shokoohy

Overview

Bayana in Rajasthan, and its monuments, challenge the perceived but established view of the development of Muslim architecture and urban form in India. At the end of the twelfth century, early conquerors took the mighty Hindu fort, building the first Muslim city below on virgin ground. They later reconfigured the fort and constructed another town within it. These two towns were the centre of an autonomous region during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Going beyond a simple study of the historic, architectural and archaeological remains, this book takes on the wider issues of how far the artistic traditions of Bayana, which developed independently from those of Delhi, later influenced north Indian architecture. It shows how these traditions were the forerunners of the Mughal architectural style, which drew many of its features from innovations developed first in Bayana.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474460729
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	05/19/2020
Pages:	752
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.87(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mehrdad Shokoohy is Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies at the University of Greenwich.

Natalie H. Shokoohy is an architectural historian.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. HistoryThe conquest of BayanaThe extent of the region of Bayana13th and 14th centuriesTīmūr’s invasion and the rise of the AuḥadīsThe Lodī dominanceBābur and the rise of the MughalsThe decline: the Sūrī episodeThe MahdīAkbar and the later Mughals

3. The Three TownsBayana Town: Sultānkūt and the later town The late mediaeval town, its street pattern and town gates The historic graveyard, tombstones and their stylistic traits Modern developments

The Tahangar or Vijayamandargarh Fort and its town The fortification walls and land features Separate fortified areas East Enclosure East gate of the fort opening to Area E East Enclosure (area E) its topography and other features The monumental gateway Citadel or Upper Fort The Citadel’s East Gate System (F. 18) The Citadel (Area A) its topography and urban form The ancient column Other features of Area A The Citadel’s West Gate System (Area B) Area C Gate F. 5 Gate F. 43 North Enclosure (Area G) Bazaar Street and Shops (F.40) Gate F. 42 and postern gate F. 41 Taletī Darwāza (F.1) and built up part of Area G The fortification walls and their age

Sikandra Town walls and gates The urban layout and its components

4. Early Monuments (12th–14th Century)The Ghurid Period: The Buildings Of Bahāʾ Al-Dīn Tughluq The Chaurasī Khamba Mosque at Kaman The Ukhā Mandīr Mosque The ‘īdgāh The Persian namāzgāh or musallā Bayana and the Indian ‘īdgāh

The Khaljī And Tughluq Periods (1290–1320, 1320–1413) The Ukhā Masjid The Tughluq period

5. Mosques and MinaretsMosques with Traditional Plans The Auhadī Jāmi‘ of the Fort Muftīyun kī Masjid Tālakīnī Masjid Pīr Mastān Masjid or Pahārī Masjid Ruinous structure in the Fort Jāt Mosque The Jāmiʿ of Sikandra

Small Neighbourhood Mosques Mosque converted to a house Small mosque in the citadel Mosque with three domes in Sikandra: ("Mosque of Niẓām Khān”) Mosque with flat roof in Sikandra 'Mughal' Mosque

Emergence of a New Mosque Plan Tāletī Masjid ‘Īdgāh Masjid Mosques at Sikandra

Minarets The minaret of Dāwūd Khān The Ukhā Minār or the minaret of Nizām Khān Minaret in the North Enclosure of the Fort

6. The Chatrī Its Origin, Its Basic Form and Its Variants in Bayana Typology

Indian prototypes

Persian canopies

Wooden canopies in India

Early stone chatrīs

Experimental designs in Bayana

The Kaman chatrī over the minbar: a statement

7. Waterworks

Wells

Reservoirs

Reservoirs – Typology Lake-size reservoirs Stepped tanks Step-wells

I: Natural Depressions Made Into Reservoirs Mor Tālāb Sikandra Reservoir Dammed reservoirs Main reservoir in the east enclosure of the fort

II: Large Reservoirs with Steps at All Sides Bayana Town, Reservoir in the Abū Qandahār Graveyard Bayana Town, the Jhālar Bā’olī Hindaun: Jachchaw (Jachchā)kī Ba’olī Bā’olī at the south of Bayana Town

III: Step-Wells The Bā’olī of Khān-i Khānān The Bā’olī of Nizām Khān, outside Bayana Sikandra – step-well west of the modern village Barambad, bā’olī in the garden of Maryam Zamānī

8. Domestic Architecture Structure and Methods Of Construction Typology Single room dwellings Multi-room dwellings Courtyard plan houses Houses with an open-fronted hall (īwān) and flanking chambers

9. Mansions, Semi-Public Buildings And Later Monuments The Governor’s Mansion in the fort A religious structure in Bayana town La‘l Darwāza at Sikandra Imārat-i Bādgīr in the fort (the Pavilion of Muhammad Bakhshī) The Jāt mansions

10. Historic Edifices In The Towns And Villages Of The Bayana RegionDholpur Bībī Zarrīna: Sikandar Lodī’s mother The Tomb and Mosque of Bībī Zarrīna

Khanwa Karbalā Masjid Dare or Khalī Masjid Jāmi‘ Masjid

Nagar-Sikri Ambiyawālī Masjid Jāmi‘ (Pathān) Masjid Purāna Masjid

Sikri Mīwātiyun kī Masjid

11. Epilogue

Appendix I: Historical Inscriptions Of Bayana And Its Region

Appendix II: The Genealogy Of The Auḥadīs Of Bayana

Appendix III: Funerary Chatrīs and Other TombsBayana builders and funerary architecture

Funerary Chatrīs

Standard Forms Chatrīs with four columns and corbelled or true domes Chatrīs with twelve columns and corbelled domes Octagonal chatrīs Hexagonal chatrī Rectangular canopies or joined chatrīs

Experimental Forms Walled chatrīs Chatrīs with ribbed domes Chatrī with a double-shelled dome

Departures From Norms Four columned chatrīs with flat roofs and false domes Chatrīs with eight columns and true or corbelled domes Canopies with nine columns, flat roofs and probable false domes

Other Tombs Square domed chambers Late or post-Mughal tombs

Bibliography

Index