COLONISATION OF INDIA ( BRITISH)

 Portuguese (1505–1961)
 Dutch (1605 to 1825)
 British (1612-1947)
 French (1759–1954)

 Robert fellowes Chisholm(1840 - 1915), Henry Irwin were among the
leading practitioners of the time.
Indo-saracenic architecture found its way into public buildings of all sorts
such as railway stations, banks and insurance buildings, educational
institutions, clubs and museums.
 Indo- Saracenic architecture represents a synthesis of Muslim designs
and Indian materials developed by British architects in India during the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. the hybrid combined
diverse architectural elements of Hindu and Mughal with gothic cusped
arches, domes, spires, tracery, minarets and stained glass, in a
wonderful, almost playful manner.

Onion (Bulbous) Domes
Overhanging Eaves
Pointed Arches, Cusped Arches, or Scalloped Arches
Vaulted Roofs
Domed Kiosks
Many Miniature Domes, or Domed Chhatris
Towers or Minarets
Harem Windows
Open Pavilions
Pierced Open Arcading

Robert Fellowes Chisholm
Henry Irwin
Charles Mant
William Emerson
George Wittet
Frederick W. Stevens

Map
showing the
locations of
cities having
Indo
Saracenic
style
buildings in
India
h t t p : / / w
w w . c m d a c h e n n a i . g o v . i n
/ p d f s /

WRITERS BUILDING,CALCUTTA
CHEPAUK PALACE,MADRAS
NAPIER MEUSEUM,
TRIVENDRAM
MAYO COLLEGE,AJMER
TIMELINE

LAXMI VILLAS,BARODA
LAW COURTS,MADRAS
VICTORIA TERMINUS,
BOMBAY
PRINCE OF WHALES MUSEUM,BOMBAY

LUTYENTS BUILDINGS,DELHI
GATEWAY OF INDIA ,BOMBAY
VICTORIA MEMORIAL,
CALCUTTA
ART GALLERY,MADRAS

•The Victoria Memorial (Victoria Memorial Hall) is a large marble building
in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India which was built between 1906 and
1921.
•It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and is now a
museum and tourist destination under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.
• The Memorial lies on the Maidan (grounds) by the bank of the Hooghly river,
near Jawaharlal Nehru road.
VICTORIA MEMORIAL , CALCUTTA
LOCATION :

•The construction of the Victoria Memorial was delayed by Curzon's departure
from India in 1905 with a subsequent loss of local enthusiasm for the project
and by the need for testing of the foundations.
• The Victoria Memorial's foundation stone was set in 1906 and the building
opened in 1921.
• The work of construction was entrusted to Messrs. Martin & Co. of Calcutta.
• Work on the superstructure began in 1910.
• After 1947, when India gained independence, additions were made.
•The Victoria Memorial's architect was William Emerson (1843–1924),
president of the Royal Institute of British Architects
HISTORY:
WILLIAM EMERSONLORD CURZONQUEEN VICTORIA

•The design is in the Indo- Saracenic revivalist style.
•This style uses a mixture of British and Mughal elements as well
as Venetian, Egyptian, Deccani andIslamic architectural influences.
•It is constructed of white Makrana marble.
•The gardens of the Victoria Memorial were designed by Lord Redesdale and David
Prain.
• Emerson's assistant, Vincent J. Esch designed the bridge of the north aspect and
the garden gates
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE :

VICTORIA MEMORIAL – TAJ MAHAL OF KOLKATA!
•Emerson may not have taken, literally, from the Taj Mahal but there is a
reminiscence. Like the Taj Mahal, the Victoria Memorial is built of white Makrana
marble and is a memorial to an empress.
•In design, it echo's the Taj Mahal with
1.DOME
3.DOMED
CORNER
TOWERS
2. FOUR
SUBSIDIARIES 4.HIGH
PORTALS
4. OCTAGONAL DOMED CHATTRIS
6.TERRACE

•The building is 184 ft high up to the base of the
figure of Victory, which is another 16 ft high.
•The groups of figures above the north porch
represent Motherhood, Prudence and Learning.
•Surrounding the main dome are figures of Art,
Architecture, Justice, Charity etc.
•The Memorial is situated on a 64 acres of land
with the building covering 338 ft by 228ft.
•Much might be said about the external
sculptures, one of which on the north side
depicts a lion's head with water flowing out of it
and passing into four troughs representing the
four great Indian rivers - the Ganges, the
Krishna, the Indus and the Jumuna - thus
symbolizing the life-giving work of Britain in
India.”
DESIGNING AND ARCHITECTURE :
Designed by - Sir William Emerson
PLAN OF VICTORIA MEMORIAL

Italian-style statues
over its entrances
Mughal domes
in its corners
tall elegant open colonnades
along its sides
the Victoria Memorial houses
a large bronze statue of the
Queen .
VIEW FACING CALCUTTA MAIDAN

•The magical lighting effect in the evening and a
fairy tale 'Fountain of Joy' facing the memorial
building create an atmosphere of unforgettable
charm.
•It also has a 5 meter tall bronze winged
figure of Victory, weighing 3 tons
•Even apart from the Moghul-style corner domes, there are many Saracenic
touches, like the carving round the window arches, which reveal the sympathies of
both architects involved
•The main attraction at the memorial is the huge sombre statue of the Queen,
which is flanked by two ornamental tanks.
•The money required for the construction of the stately building, surrounded by
beautiful gardens over 64 acres and costing more than 10 million was contributed
by British Indian states and individuals .
•At present the Victoria Memorial has notable
collection of weapons, sculptors, paintings, maps,
coins, stamps, artifacts, textiles etc.

The Royal Gallery is a storehouse of oil
paintings of Queen Victoria receiving the
sacrament at her coronation in the
Westminster Abbey in June 1838; her
marriage with Prince Albert (1840), the
christening of the Prince of Wales, the
marriage of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII)
with Princess Alexandra and others.
INTERIOR :
ROYAL GALLERY:
ADDITIONS AFTER INDEPENDENCE :
NATIONAL LEADER’S LIBRARY:
The National Leaders’ Gallery was
added after independence, and
features portraits, mostly by Atul
Basu and Langhammer.

CALCUTTA GALLERY :
•A recent addition to Victoria Memorial is the
Calcutta Gallery. Although this gallery was
envisioned by Curzon himself, it was
commissioned on the occasion of the city’s
tercentenary.
•The Calcutta Gallery traces the city’s evolution
from its inception in Job Charnok’s days, with old
maps, sketches, photographs and important
historical documents, right up to the Partition of
India in 1947.
•There is also a beautiful walk – through diorama
of Chitpur Road in the 19th century.
•A wonderful Light & Sound show is held at
the Victoria Memorial, regularly.
•The show famed as ‘Pride & Glory – the
Story of Calcutta’ was initiated as a joint
venture with Bengal Chamber of
Commerce.
•The show is held in both Bengali and
English version.
LIGHT AND SOUND :

•The landscaped garden of the Victoria Memorial Hall spanning 64 acres was
designed by Sir David Prain and Lord Redesdale.
• There is a bronze statue of Queen Victoria, seated on her throne towards the
north gate.
•The King Edward VII memorial arch featuring a bronze equestrian statue of the
King and a marble statue of Lord Curzon is featured within the garden.
•The garden also has statues of other British luminaries like Lord Bentinck and
Lord Ripon.
• The statue of Sir Rajendranath Mookherjee, an eminent industrialist of Bengal
lies on the eastern side of the garden. Twenty-one gardeners have been
appointed to maintain the garden of Victoria Memorial.
GARDEN:

• The roofs may have been inspired by the
timber roofs in Kerala
• Its pillars are of corinthian order and has square flat
topped towers
• The roofs in the buildings are varied. there is the
flat roof and the gable roof with
dormer windows.
the gabled ventilators on the roof besides a chimney and some of the fenestrations
reflect a victorian "country-colonial" .
• It was designed and completed in 1884 by robert
fellows chisholm.

• the arches, columns,
and all other details
are cut in stone. the
arches which occupy
the longer faces of
the building have on
them intricate jali
work carved in
stone.
• the projecting eaves
are supported by
stone brackets and
this seems to be a
hindu influence
• the arches in the
veranda and the
exterior are pure
saracen.

 Constructed by Robert Chisholm between 1874 and 1879
 Inspired by the Byzantine and built in the Indo-Saracenic style.
 Chisholm was the Principal of the School of Industrial Art at
Madras, and won the commission for designing the Presidency
College and the University Senate House.

http://www.cmdachennai.gov.in/pdfs/

Tower
Porch
Double height verandah

• USED SAME METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION
AS USED BY MUGHALS

Stone columns with sculptured
capital
Hindu iconography on the capital
Turrets

LARGE CLERESTORY CIRCULAR
OPENINGS DECORATED WITH COLOURED
GLASS
MUGHAL CHAJJAS

• The chepauk palace is one of the oldest buildings on marina.located at the junction
of south beach road or kamarajar sarai and wallaja road just across the senate
house it now houses various governement deptt.
• the palace was constructed by wallajah Muhammad ali,the Nawaz of Carnatic for
moving his residence from the town of arcot to the palace.
• the main architect of the building was paul benfield. later on numerous additions
were made by the govt. in this building.which were done by r.f.chisholm.
• the building comprises of two blocks : humayun mahal and the khalsa mahal. the
majority of additions were done to the humayun mahal while the khalsa mahal was
largely left as it was.
• the humayun mahal was transformed into the revenue board building in 1871 while
the khalsa mahal incorporated the engineering college and the office of the pwd.

Lutyen's grandiose Government House (Rashtrapati Bhawan) - located on Raisina
Hill, and one of New Delhi's major thoroughfares, Rajpath, connects it to the Purana
Qila
Lord Hardinge chose the Raisina Hill for
locating the viceroy’s palace because:
• It was a well drained.
• Constituted of slopes and plains
between the ridge and the river.
• Its eastern and southern margins
were studded with monuments of
vanished empires. A broad
crescent from Shahjahanabad and
Kotla Firoz Shah, south to
Tughlaqabad and the Qutub with
tombs of Safdarjung and Lodhis as
well as Jantar Mantar in the
foreground could be viewed from
the site.
Image 2

 The Secretariat Building was designed
by architect Herbert Baker in Indo-
Saracenic Revival architecture.
 Much of the building is in classical
architectural style, yet it
incorporated Mughal and Rajasthani
architecture style and motifs in its
architecture.
 These are visible in the use of Jali.
 Another feature of the building is a
dome-like structure known as
the Chatri.
• The style of architecture
used in Secretariat
Building is unique to
Raisina Hill. In front of the
main gates on buildings
are the four "dominion
columns", given by
Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa.

Columns and colonnaded verandahs
Photograph by Medha Malik Kudaisya
Chattris & Chajjas in red sandstone

 The Parliament Hous was designed
by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker.
 It was built with indigenous
materials and by Indian labour and
the architecture of the building
bears a close imprint of the Indian
tradition.
 The layout of fountains both inside
and outside the building, the use of
Indian symbols, the "Chhajjas” and
the varied forms of "Jali" in marble
are reminders of the story of the
craftsmanship displayed in ancient
monuments and memorials.

JALIS
JALIS
JALIS
BUDDHIST DOME
BUDDHIST DOME
THICK BAND
THICK BAND
THICK BAND

The largest of all palaces in New Delhi — a building that suited the status of the Nizam
of Hyderabad. Designed by Edwin Lutyens. The majestic mansion had 36 rooms.
Lutyens designed Hyderabad House in the shape of a butterfly — a plan that he had first
used for Papillon Hall in Leicestershire in 1903.
The main architectural feature of Hyderabad House is a dome with an entrance hall
beneath which symmetrical wings radiate at an angle of fifty-five degrees. Its round
arches flanked by rectangular openings to the height of the impost was inspired by the
Pantheon in Rome, a city where Lutyens stayed in 1909. For the first floor windows of
the grand place, Lutyens chose a combination of rectangular and round arches that
were inspired by the Uffizi to the Arno in Florence.
The majestic building that boasts of courtyards, archways, obelisks, large flower
containers, grand stairways, marble fireplaces, fountains, had a pre-dominantly
European character with some Mughal motifs.

Patiala House was formerly the palatial residence of the Maharaja of Patiala
(in Punjab). part of central vista, this building, built in the 1930s, has a central
dome with a butterfly layout, similar to other buildings o the Lutyens zone.
Today it houses the district Courts complex for New Delhi District. 'A double
Vtoreyed building, the central portion is emphasized with a domed pavilion on
the terrace and projection porchover the upper storey, there is a projecting
chajja running the entire length of the old building. It has seen interesting
occupants ever since the Maharaja vacated it.

Jaipur House (National Gallery of Modern Art) is located diametrically opposite
Hyderabad House. Like other princes’ residences, the building was also designed in the
shape of a butterfly with a central dome. But very few people know that it was British
architect Charles Blomfield, who designed the building. It was designed in a mix of neo-
classical and Art Deco style. The butterfly-shaped building has two symmetrical ‘wings’
radiating from the central court.
Two similar wings radiate towards the back facing the gardens. The façade of this
comparatively austere palace is marked by two levels of small, vertical, slit-like windows.
A continuous sunshade or ‘chajja’ in redstone caps the entire façade. The building has
arched openings framed by Rajput columns.

• The station building is designed in the High Victorian Gothic style of
architecture. The building exhibits a fusion of influences from Victorian
Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and traditional Indian architecture.
• The skyline, turrets, pointed arches, and eccentric ground plan are close to
traditional Indian palace architecture
• The centrally domed office structure has a 330 feet long platform
connected to a 1,200 feet long train shed, and its outline provides the
skeleton plan for building.
• VT's dome of dovetailed ribs, built without centring, was considered as a
novel achievement of the era.

• The columns of the entrance gates are crowned
by figures of a lion (representing Great Britain)
and a tiger (representing India).
The stone arches are covered with
carved foliage and grotesques.
• The ceiling of the
booking hall was
originally painted
blue, gold and strong
red on a ground of
rich blue with gold
stars. Its walls were
lined with glazed
tiles

•The architect George Wittet combined the elements
of the Roman triumphal arch and the 16th-century
architecture of Gujarat Its design is a combination
of Hindu and Muslim architectural styles;
•The gateway is built from yellow basalt
and reinforced concrete.
•The stone was locally
obtained, and the
perforated screens were
brought from Gwalior.

•The arch is of Muslim style while the decorations are of Hindu style.

• The Palace of Mysore (also known as
the Amba Vilas Palace) is a historical palace
in the city of Mysore in Karnataka,
southern India.
• It is the official residence and seat of
the Wodeyars - the Maharajas of Mysore, the
former royal family of Mysore, who ruled
the princely state of Mysore from 1399 to
1950.
• The original palace built of wood, got burnt
down in 1897, during the wedding of
Jayalakshammanni, the eldest daughter of
Chamaraja Wodeyar and was rebuilt in 1912 at
the cost of Rs. 42 lakhs.
• Designed by the well-known British architect,
Henry Irwin, the palace is a treasure house of
exquisite carvings and works of art from all
over the world.
The old Mysore Palace
Mysore Palace

• The architectural style of Mysore
palace is hybrid. That is, its design is a
mixture of various schools of
architecture. The palace is made in a
style collectively called Indo-Saracenic
Revival style.
• The Islamic power in India by the turn of
12th century.
• A large number of Islamic structures in
India during the Mugal era were build in
the Sassanian ( Persia ) style. So the
name Saracenic.
• That style when merged with the native
Indian styles , gave rise to a hybrid style
called Indo-Islamic style or Indo-
Saracenic style.
• Many centuries later – by the turn of
19th century – India came under the
colonial powers.

• The five storied tower
measuring about 145 feet
(45 meters) at the center of
the palace.
• This projects up from the
rest of the roof-line of the
palace like a tower of a
Gothic cathedral. However
on top of it is a large
dome, a very typical
feature of Islamic/Persian
style structures.
• Further on top of this dome is a domed Chhatri. That is, a
smaller dome supported by slender pillars projecting up
from the large dome.
Domed Chhatri is a typical Rajput ( Rajastan ) architectural
feature.
• more such domed Chhatris at the top on either side of the
central arch of the facade.
• Between these two domed Chhatris and above the central
arch is a sculpture of goddess Gajalakshmi. This is a
common feature in Hindu architecture.

• The pillars, the
squinch (where the
pillar meets the ceiling
) and the domical
ceiling above the
verandah.
• The capitals are
beautifully carved with
hard granite. This too
is a present blend of
native and gothic
styles.
• The entrance
gate and arch
hold the
emblem and
coat of arms of
the kingdom of
Mysore, around
which is written
the kingdom's
motto in
Sanskrit: "न
बिभॆति कदाचन"
(never terrified).
• It has a facade with
several expansive
arches and two smaller
ones flanking the
central arch, which is
supported by tall pillars.
• The arches are cusped
and of Sassanian in
origin. These are
supported by massive
pillars.
• The three-
story stone
building of
fine gray
granite
with deep
pink
marble
domes.

• The massive doors carved out of teak (yellow-brown) and rosewood
(coffee colored).
• On the rosewood doors,frames and lintels you can see the finely
done inlay work... The ceiling when you are in the room that
showcased a row of silver and glass chairs.
• You can spot on the
southern and northern
extremities of the
palace protruding
balconies. These
resembles that of the
‘jharokha’ one find in
the Rajshani
architecture
.

• used architecture as a symbol of power.
• The British followed various architectural styles –
Gothic, Imperial, Christian, English Renaissance and Victorian being the essentials.
• A deeper concern with architecture was exhibited in churches and other public
buildings.
• Most of the buildings were adaptations of the buildings designed by leading British
architects of that time like Wren, Adam, Nash and others in London and other places.
http://www.culturopedia.net/architecture/c
olonialarchitecture.html
they wanted to legitimatize their rule, they
decided to justify their
presence by relating themselves to the
previous rulers, the Mughals.. The British
deliberately
kept Mughal princes in power so as to not to
provoke Indian contempt and to further
establish
their connection to the Mughals.

COLONISATION OF INDIA ( BRITISH)

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