The Sultanate architecture of South Asia, 1398 - 1526 /
The sultanate architecture of South Asia, built between the incursions of Timur ending in 1398 and the invasion of Babur in 1526, represents an often ignored yet important share of the sub-continent's heritage. The years following Timur's sack of Delhi saw the emergence of independent sul...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
London :
University of London,
2006
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| Subjects: | |
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| Summary: | The sultanate architecture of South Asia, built between the incursions of Timur ending in 1398 and the invasion of Babur in 1526, represents an often ignored yet important share of the sub-continent's heritage. The years following Timur's sack of Delhi saw the emergence of independent sultanate throughout South Asia and it is the buildings constructed under the patronage of their rulers that are the focus of this dissertation. Six sultanates were dominant not only territorially but also politically: the struggling sultanate at Delhi; the long-independent sultanate of Bengal; the newly-established kingdoms of Jaunpur and Malwa; the Deccan which had maintained independence since the mid-fourteenth century; and the mercantile territories of Gujarat. It is not the object of this discussion to present and exhaustive survey of the monuments built within these territories. It aims instead to put the buildings into their historical context by exploring the major design types that prevailed during the period and sets out to explain the development of these forms according to the historical, social and political factors which may have influenced that evolution. That the architecture in different areas is often so diverse in form and style, yhet set within and analoogous historical context, provides an unusually instructive opportunity for direct comparisons with a clearly defined timeframe. The thesis also addresses wider issues of political and religious identity and seeks to establish both the importance and success of its expression in the architectural endeavours of the late sultanate rulers. Each of ruling houses proclaimed themnselves as Muslim authorities, and their territories therfore formed part of the dar alIslam, the 'house of Islam'. At the same time, the had inherited a rich leagacy from the indigenous non-Muslim cultures over which they ruled. The resulting tension between local and foreign forms created in each area a unique architectural langage which is used in this discussion to explore a broader question. Did the sultans of the subcontinent indeed perceive themselves as part of an homogenous Muslim community with ultimately foreign origins or did they instead place emphasis on their sttus as local rulelrs over religiously and culturally diverse indigenous populations? |
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| Item Description: | "A thesis submitted to the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy." --On t. p. |
| Physical Description: | 206 p. : ill., maps. ; 30 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-206). |