presentation covers following: Mughal origin in India Mughal empior Mughal architecture red sand stone phase White marble phase Mughal Art Mughal litreture Case study: Taj mahal with all construction details

1. Mughal
Art & Architecture

2. Introduction
 MAJOR MUGHAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE INDIAN
SUBCONTINENT WAS THEIR UNIQUE ARCHITECTURE.
MANY MONUMENTS WERE BUILT BY THE MUSLIM
EMPERORS, ESPECIALLY SHAH JAHAN, DURING THE
MUGHAL ERA.
 DISTINCTIVE STYLE DEVLOPED BY THE MUGHALS IN
16TH,17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES
 IT IS THE COMBINATION OF
ISLAMIC,PERSIAN,TURKISH AND INDIAN
ARCHITECTURE
 IT IS SYMMETRICAL AND DECORATIVE IN STYLE
 THE BUILDINGS OF THIS PERIOD ARE LARGER,
SPLENDID, LIGHTER AND MORE GRACEFUL IN
COMPOSITION
 WIDE USE IS MADE OF WHITE AND COLOURED

3. Mughal Architecture
THE BULBOUS DOMES,THE SLENDER MINARETS WITH CUPOLAS AT THE FOUR
CORNERS,LARGE HALLS MASSIVE GATEWAYS AND DELICATE ORNAMENTATION.
 WHITE MARBLE AND RED SANDSTONE WAS FAVOURED.
 USED ARCHES SPARINGELY.
 SYMMETRY AND BALANCED STRESSED.
 USED OCTAGONES ALOT.
 THE BUILDING WORE A LOOK OF GRACE,BEAUTY,GRANDEUR AND RICHNESS.
 RED STONE WAS SUBSTITUTED BY WHITE MARBLES AND PRECIOUS STONES.
 THE PIETRA DURA STYLE BECAME A POPULAR FEATURE OF THIS PERIOD.
 SQUARED STONE AND MARBLE WAS REPLACED BY BRICK OR RUBBLE WITH STUCCO
ORNAMENT AT THE TIME OF AURANGZEB.
MUGHAL ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS

4. MUGHAL ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS
ARCHES
ORNAMENTATION
MINARETS
DOME
S

5. PHASES OF MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE
 RED STONE PHASE
THE FIRST PHASE IN WHICH THE BUILDINGS WERE
PRINCIPALLY CONSTRUCTRD IN RED SANDSTONE DURING
THE REGAIN OF BABAR, HUMAYUN AND AKBAR
MAIN CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
 USED RED STONE MOSTALY
 SYMMETRY AND BALANCE STRESSED
 BRICKS,DECORATED WITH “TERRA COTTA” AND GLAZE.
 SEMI-PRECIOUS GEMSTONES WERE POPULAR
(JADE,CRYSTALS,ETC)
 DOMES ARE SEMI-CIRCULAR
EXAMPLES:
RED FORT
DARWAZA-I-RAUZA
(THE GREAT GATE
FORR TAJ COMPLEX)

6. PHASES OF MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE
 MARBLE PHASE EXAMPLES:
THE 2ND PHASE WHEN WHITE MARBLE WAS
LARGELY EMPLYOYED TO THE LUXURY TASTE
OF SHAH JAHAN
MAIN CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
 RED STONNE WAS SUBSTITUTED BY WHITE
MARBLES AND PRECIOUS STONES
 THE PIETRA DURA STYLE BECAME A POPULAR
FEATURE OF THIS PERIOD
 SEMI CIRCULAR DOMES ARE REPLACED BY
THE BULBOUS DOMES
TAJ MAHAL
ITIMAD AL-
DAWLA'S TOMB

7. Mughal Garden
 MUGHAL GARDENS ARE A GROUP OF GARDENS BUILT BY THE MUGHALS IN THE ISLAMIC STYLE
OF ARCHITECTURE.
 THIS STYLE WAS INFLUENCED BY PERSIAN GARDENS AND TIMURID GARDENS.
 SIGNIFICANT USE OF RECTILINEAR LAYOUTS ARE MADE WITHIN THE WALLED ENCLOSURES.
SILENT FEATURES:
 POOLS,
 FOUNTAINS
 CANALS INSIDE THE GARDENS.
CLASSIFICATION:
 RECTANGULAR PEARL GARDEN
 LONG BUTTERFLY GARDEN
 CIRCULAR GARDEN
 TERRACED GARDEN
EXAMPLE
TAJ MAHAL
AGRA
RAM BAGH
AGRA
SHALIMAR GARDEN
KASHMIR

8. Mughal Art
 UNDER THE RULE OF KING AKBAR, THERE WAS A LARGE SCALE GROWTH OF
PAINTING EXPERIENCE.
 HE ENCOURAGED PAINTINGS BASED ON RAMAYANA, MAHABHARATA AND
PERSIAN EPICS. IT ALSO USED TO DEPICT NATURE, ANIMAL TALES AND
PORTRAITS OF KINGS AND QUEENS.
 THE KING WHO SHOWED THE MAXIMUM INTEREST IN PAINTING WAS
EMPEROR JAHANGIR.
 THIS PERIOD SAW MORE AND MORE REFINEMENT IN BRUSHWORK, ALONG
WITH THE USE OF MUCH LIGHTER COLOURS.
 DURING THE RULE OF AURANGZEB, PAINTING WAS NOT ALLOWED AND
THUS MUGHAL STYLE OF PAINTING STARTED TO DECLINE.

9. Mughal Literature
 ISLAMIC SCHOOLS WERE ATTACHED TO MOSQUES, KHANQAH OF
THE SUFIS AND TOMBS.
 STUDENTS RECEIVED EDUCATION FREE OF COST. FAMOUS
SCHOLARS RECEIVED FIXED STIPENDS FROM THE ROYAL
TREASURY.
 NIZAMIYYAH ( MODEL OF MADRASA) SYSTEM OF EDUCATION WAS
INTRODUCED.
 NIZAMIYYAH INSTITUTES WERE THE FIRST WELL ORGANIZED
HIGHER INSTITUTES OF LEARNING IN THE MUSLIM WORLD. THE
QUALITY OF EDUCATION WAS THE HIGHEST IN THE ISLAMIC
WORLD.
 GIRLS FROM RICH FAMILIES WERE GIVEN PRIVATE TUITIONS AT
HOME AND GIRLS FROM MIDDLE CLASS WERE USUALLY ABLE TO
ATTEND CLASSES IN THE SAME SCHOOLS AS THE BOYS.

10. Taj Mahal
 The taj mahal represents the
finest and most sophisticated
example OF mughal architecture.
 The 5th mughal emperor shah
jahan commissioned the
mausoleum upon the death of his
favourite wife mumtaz mahal.
 Today it is one of the most famous
and recognisable buildings in the
world , the white domed marble
mausoleum being the most
familiar part of the monument..
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY

11. Plan of Taj complex

12. EXTERIOR
FOUNDATION DETAILS
 Taj Mahal has what is famously known as the well
foundation. A series of conduits, and drainage pipes
encased in stone and mortar were built into the
foundation to divert the river water.
 Wells were then sunk and cased with ebony or mahogany
wood and were filled with rubble and masonry –
essentially acting as augured piles .
 After the foundation was complete the river terrace or
the first plinth was constructed. Unskilled labourers
built the plinth with stone and masonry which was faced
with red sandstone by the skilled labourers.
 The second plinth was similarly constructed and faced
with white marble attached with the help of iron clamps
and dowels.

13.  The Taj stands on a raised, square
platform (186 x 186 feet) with its
four corners truncated, forming an
unequal octagon.
 Its central dome is 55 feet in
diameter and rises to a height of
213 feet.
 It is flanked by four subsidiary
domed chambers.
 The four graceful, slender minarets
are 162.5 feet each.
 The central inner dome is (81 ft)
high and (58 ft) in diameter, but is
surmounted by an outer shell nearly
200 ft .

14. Dome construction
 The dome is accentuated by the
cylindrical "drum" it sits on
which is approximately 7
metres high.
 Located at the exact centre of
the structure, the main dome is
flanked by four smaller domes
on four sides .
 The drum that adds support to
the circular top.
 The weight of the dome is
distributed to the building on
which it is rested then to the
arches from where it is
transferred to the plinth and
foundation.

15. Main chamber
 The inner chamber is an octagon , containing the cenotaphs of
Mumtaz and Shah Jahan
 The interior walls are about 25 metres high, topped by a "false“
interior dome decorated with a sun motif.
 Eight pishtaq (arches) define the space at ground level. As is
typical with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a
second pishtaq about midway up the wall.
 The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas;
each balcony's exterior window has an ”jali” cut from marble.
 Each of the chamber walls has been highly decorated with dado
bas relief, intricate lapidary inlay, and refined calligraphy
panels.

16. Inner chamber
 The bodies of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan are laid in a
relatively plain, marble faced chamber,
 beneath the main chamber of the Taj, They are buried
in graves on a north-south axis, with faces turned right
(west) toward Mecca.
 Two cenotaphs above mark the graves.
 Mumtaz's cenotaph is placed at the precise center of
the inner chamber.

17. Water supply
 The water was first drawn from the river by
a series of purs - an animalpowered rope and
bucket mechanism.
 The water then flowed along an arched
aqueduct into a large storage tank, where, by
thirteen additional purs, it was raised to
large distribution cistern above the Taj
ground level

 From here water passed into three subsidiary
tanks and was then piped to the complex.
 The head of pressure generated by the height
of the tanks (9.5m) was sufficient to supply
the fountains and irrigate the gardens.

18. Thank you
Presented by:
• Kaushal Dohale
• Pankaj Khade
• Shubham Barjo
• Sayali Chinchore
• Rutuja Kambale
• Vrushali Mhaskar