Islamic Architecture

Islamic Architecture started through a variety of influences, among which the most evident are

Founding Prophet - spaces & orientation, garden based on paradise
• Bedouin & Arabian influences- open court & climate adaptations, mud & grass construction, geometry and algebra
• Byzantine - AR character, domes, iconoclasm, minaret, arcade, portico as iwan, Damascus masjid
• Sassanid - mosaic, masonry, Dome of the Rock
• Visigoths and Umayyads
• Ottoman - gender segregation and conversion of the Hagia Sofia into a masjid

Contributions:

• Moslems learned the technique of making paper from the Chinese warriors they had captured in the battle

• Arabic numerals were taken from India and transmitted to the Western world became the standard mathematical
symbols

• Heritage of Classical Greece- both scientific and philosophical returned through translation undertaken in Islamic
lands

Founding Prophet

The prophet Muhammad founded the religion in the late the 6th century in Medina.

prophet Muhammad

He adopts the religion of the Arabs forefather, Ishmael, first-born of Abraham/Ibrahim, of the near-east monotheistic
belief.
• It is believed he was born in Mecca in 571 AD Mecca and died in Medina in 632 AD.
• He built the very first masjid, place where both prayers and teachings were held and plan became the basis for
designing future mosques/masjid.
• Made with thatch, mud-brick walls and palm trunks facing an open court called sahn.

first masjid

Made with thatch, mud-brick walls and palm trunks facing an open court called sahn.

Bedouin & Arabian Influences

Earliest buildings, a masjid built with stone and mud-clay bricks.
• Bedouins were the builders of Petra, and were quite prolific with masonry and sandstone construction.
• Sahn or open court is surrounded by cloisters called riwaq that allow for shade and ventilation form the center of the structure
• Water source like well or sometimes a small pool called howz, or fountain to relieve oneself from the arid climate is always found in these central open courts.
• Algebra and geometry became tools for planning & construction. Numbers and equations of proportions, geometric shapes and parabolic curves became the source of wall ornamentation as Islamic beliefs adapted iconoclasm.
• These patterns became the basis for creating the mashrabiyas or wooden lattice-works that serve as window screen
or wall dividers

Bedouins

the builders of Petra, and were quite prolific with masonry and sands tone construction.

Sahn

is surrounded by cloisters called riwaq that allow for shade and ventilation form the center of the structure

mashrabiyas

wooden lattice-works that serve as window screen
or wall dividers

Byzantine

• Umayyad caliphate is the empire responsible for the early spread of Islam towards the Byzantine regions, Africa through
Egypt and the Mesopotamia where they brought down the Sassanid empire, and later in the Iberian peninsula of Spain.
• In the Byzantine, the first major city they occupied is Damascus in Syria in 634 AD, and this is where they converted
the city’s early Christian Basilica into a masjid.
• In Damascus, the dome of the church dedicated to John the Baptist gave the ideal roofing for masjid/prayer hall.
muqarnas - intricate dome ceiling ornamentation.
• The ideal dome was the dome of Hagia Sofia, then a Christian church. The Constantinople church was the template
then for many religious buildings including that of Islam.
• In Damascus, Islam started to adapt iconoclasm and maintained ornamentation to the use of floral and geometric
patterns and Arabic calligraphy. The riwaq immediately adapted the arcaded façade.

Umayyad caliphate

is the empire responsible for the early spread of Islam towards the Byzantine regions, Africa through Egypt and the Mesopotamia where they brought down the Sassanid empire, and later in the Iberian peninsula of Spain.

Damascus in Syria

Umayyad caliphate converted the city’s early Christian Basilica into a masjid.

the dome of the church dedicated to John the Baptist

gave the ideal roofing for masjid/prayer hall.

muqarnas

intricate dome ceiling ornamentation

Sassanid

were largely represented by the Mesopotamians and the Persians.

Umayyads

started to claim the site where Mohammad is said to have ascended taking advantage that the Jews where in diaspora.

Mesopotamian masonry

was a major building technique used by the Umayyads

The most important buildings in the holy enclosure are:

1. Dome of the Rock
2. Aqsa Mosque

Dome of the Rock

associated with the mystical night journey and ascension of the Prophet Mohammad with many biblical figure Abraham, Jacob Jesus, David and Solomon among others, accepted as prophets by Islam

• The shape of the sanctuary was determined by the platform created by Herod the Great for the Jewish Temple,
destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.

Alhambra

palace where geometry provided the best forms of ornamentation on lattice works and mossaic, while ideal visual proportions were derived simply through the use of compass and straight edge.

had 3 palaces, the Lions Palace, the Comares Palace, the Palace of the Lions, and the Partal Palace. It has several
courtyards and a garden worthy to symbolize paradise as mentioned in the scriptures

Nasrid Emirate

built one of the grandest of palaces of the Middle ages, the Alhambra, the “Red Fort”

The east influence:

Chinese and Mughal Architecture as Islam spread to SouthEast Asia

Distinct features developed:

form of buildings, and the decoration of surfaces
a. Islamic calligraphy
b. geometric and interlace patterned ornament

New architectural elements:

a. cylindrical minarets
b. pointed arch
c. Muqarnas
d. Arabesque
e. multifoil

By eight century, the traditional elements of a mosque include;

mihrab
Minarets

Mosque

part of a larger complex include:
a. Koran school (madrasa), hospital, lodging for travelers (caravanserai) and baths (hammam)
Islamic architecture is also famous for massive fortifications and desert places

Decorative Systems

Ornament and elaborate interior decoration are integral to Islamic architecture.
◦ The decorative motifs consist of elaborate, dense, intertwining, infinitely repeating vegetative, geometric and
calligraphic elements.
◦ nonfigural art - strictly nonrepresentational in mosques and other sacred places,
◦ figural representation - tolerated in a secular context
◦ Use of horseshoe arch, adapted from a much simpler version common in buildings of the Visigoth their predecessors
in Spain.

Muqarnas

a three-dimensional plaster decoration resembling honeycombs or stalactites to embellish domes, vaults and niches

Architectural Character

Countries into which Islam first expanded were already rich in building tradition. Marble was generally available, lime
and gypsum for mortars and plasters were usually readily procurable, variety of building stones is found in areas and
the techniques of working them and building in masonry had been highly developed

◦ Cyclopean masonry had survived from antiquity, and Roman quarries such as those at Baalbek still yielded massive
stones.

◦ Most masonry structures of importance were in arched, vaulted or domed forms

◦ True voussoirs were used in the curved shapes, and interlocking voussoirs guarded against earthquakes.

◦ Cements, plasters and stucco were used for bas-relief carving, and the highly decorative muqarnas techniques employed in domes, vaults and arches.

◦ The greatest volume of building in Islamic lands has been achieved with earth walling.

◦ The architecture of Islam as a matter of arcuated masonry construction in which its artisans achieved the highest level
of finish and invention.

Characteristic features of Muslim architecture are the pointed arch, and the horseshoe arch

The origins - pre-Muslim era in the eastern territories of Byzantium, and to the Sassanian Empire.
◦ The pointed arch - earliest significant Muslim monuments and carried to the western Mediterranean by Muslim in the
eighth century.
◦ (West) The horseshoe shape is round-headed, (East) the round arch disappeared after the ninth century, when the
four-centered arch evolved.
◦ The use of cusping and of guarding colonnettes or nook-shafts. Cusping has a pre-Muslim history in church buildings
in Syria in the sixth century, but was first used regularly in decorative frets to arches in late eighth-century Iraq.
◦ Nook-shafts are found in Coptic and Hellenistic Christian architecture of the fifth and sixth centuries.
◦ The regular use in Muslim architecture is dated to the ninth century, after which they were used widely for entrance
openings of significance.
◦ By the eleventh century an important decorative element had also become established - Islamic muquarnas and or
stalactite corbel.
◦ Muquarnas are superimposed corbels, angled so that the quoin of the lower corbel is coincident with the groin of the
two superimposed corbels above.
◦ calligraphy and pattern-making took the place of figures

The pointed arch

the earliest significant Muslim monuments and carried to the western Mediterranean by Muslim in the
eighth century.

(West)

The horseshoe shape is round-headed,

(East)

the round arch disappeared after the ninth century, when the
four-centered arch evolved.

nook-shafts.

has a pre-Muslim history in church buildings in Syria in the sixth century, but was first used regularly in decorative frets to arches in late eighth-century Iraq.

are found in Coptic and Hellenistic Christian architecture of the fifth and sixth centuries.

Islamic Architecture in South Asia

Islam arrived in India around the 13th century.

Meanwhile in the Near East, Mongols and Afghans have melted into a dynastic alliance that created the Timurid empire. The
Timurids who were Islam adapted the building techniques of the Seljuks (Afghan-Russian-Turks) and have perfected techniques
and design for the following:

Paradise-Garden, built for masjids, palaces, or mausoleums (Seljuks where likely influenced by the Babylonian hanging
gardens of the ancient past)
• Tileworks evolved from mosaics and geometric patterns
• 3-dimensional surface decoration which eventually gave rise to filigree-like (marble lattice screens) called jaali.

The Delhi or Imperial Style (1200 to 1526 C.E):

• Imperial style of architecture was developed and continued at Delhi and its surroundings for nearly four centuries
beginning at the close of 12th century up to the middle of 16th century, when it was succeeded by Moguls.

. Architecture of Provinces (1150 to 1687 C.E):

The second of these styles, the provincial refers to the building art developed in the self-contained Provinces away
from Delhi and their governors under the obeisance to Delhi Sultans.

Mogul Period (1526 to 1707 C.E):

• In the second quarter of 16th century, Moguls raised and brought whole of India under their control. Mogul
architecture was the latest and ripest form of Indo-Islamic architecture continued to flourish till 18th century.
• Religious structures - the most significant of which are in this garden, promoting the Paradise theme that became a
focal development in Persian Islamic architecture. The sultanate of Delhi, though originated from this city, eventually
came to build Agra, the capital of the dynasty that came to conquer them – the Mughals

Before the Mughals came, there were already distinct Hindu-Islamic elements in the region and these are:

1. Chhatri – Dome on post and lintel pavilion, reminiscent of the shrine structures
2. Arcuated post & lintel – merger of local post and lintel construction with arcuated Islamic structure.
3. Jaali – perforated stone screen similar to filigrees
4. Haveli – mansion for the affluent sultan which eventually utilized also for the town house of the affluent (the
equivalent of a quasar)
5. Zenana-the harem section of the house
6. Mardana – male section of the house

Chhatri

Dome on post and lintel pavilion, reminiscent of the shrine structures

Arcuated post & lintel

merger of local post and lintel construction with arcuated Islamic structure

Jaali

perforated stone screen similar to filigrees

Haveli

mansion for the affluent sultan which eventually utilized also for the town house of the affluent (the equivalent of a quasar)

Zenana

the harem section of the house

Mardana

male section of the house

Taj Mahal

is a mausoleum dedicated by the ruler Shah Jahan to his wife, Mumtas Mahal when she died young while giving birth. The plan is said to be of highly formal balance (symmetrical) that a jawab (used as guest house) mirroring the masjid needed to be built to maintain formal balance in the complex. According to historians, the recognized architect is Ustad Ahmad.

Building typologies:

• masjids/mosque
• minars (minaret), some of which were not limited to mosques, can also be built to commemorate a victory of certain
rulers.
• sarais or caravancies, equivalent of the Arabian wikala.
• dargahs/darwasa or commemorative gateways
• Haveli – quasar or townhouse of the affluent
• Mausoleums
• Bagh – paradise garden of Persian origin

Other styles: Deccan, based in the cities of Bidar and Golkanda (14th century onwards)
• Followed the Lodi and Sayyid structures and with strong Persian influences.
• Limited local influences
• Dynasties that contributed to the styles include:
1. Gulbarga Phase
2. Bidar Phase
3. Golkonda Phase (Qutub Shahi Dynasty)

• Dynasties that contributed to the styles include:

1. Gulbarga Phase
2. Bidar Phase
3. Golkonda Phase (Qutub Shahi Dynasty)

Provincial Indo-Islamic architecture: Gujarat

• Among the earliest (14th century)
• Two factors are responsible for the prodigious output of architecture in this region:
• Proliferated by the Ahmed Shahi dynasty as a way to prove their influence and wealth
• The supply of skilled indigenous workmen from the north.

Provincial Indo-Islamic architecture: Mandu

• Also known as the architecture from Mandavgad in Madhya Pradesh, an ancient city in western part of central India,
where Afghan architecture and culture have become part of the local culture
• Style rose from migration of afghan Muslims into the city

Provincial Indo-Islamic architecture are generally classified as:

Bengal – Sri Lankan traditional architecture applied in temple construction. The string Buddhist and Hindu
construction styles have largely influenced the latter period Indo-Islamic structures.
• Manily built with terracotta and masonry techniques due to the abundance of these materials.

Provincial Indo-Islamic architecture:Jaunpur

• Pylon facades
• Arches are Tudor-like
• Built based on traditional trabeated pillar system, hence adaptation to masonry still shows timber construction
elements
• Pillar accentuated

Islamic Architecture in India (12th Century C.E)

• blend of local and exotic designs (Indian, Islamic and Persian styles)
• the impact of Islamic ideas and techniques on the established civilization of Hindu kingdoms in India.
• a synthesis between two divergent building systems that of Hindus and Muslims.

Two classifications:

1. Religious structures- Mosques and Tombs
2. Secular structures- forts, palaces, pavilions, town-gates and gardens.

1. Religious Structures:

Comparison of Hindu and Islam Worshipping Structures:
There is a great contrast in the two religions of Hindu and Islam in respect of worshipping structures, the temple and
the mosque.

Planning and Focal Point:

• The temple is an abode of the deity to which it is consecrated and contains massive walls, long corridors,
compartments and high embellishments.
• The mosque is open in its design & has no need of a central shrine or image of deity.
• It is enough for the devotee to turn to the direction of Mecca.
• Sanctuary is the sacred part of the mosque and the focal point is the Mihrab in the sanctuary.

The similar elements in an Indian temple and mosque are:

• Surrounding cloisters

• Sanctuary on west. But some temples are exceptional to this.
• In a mosque, the central court is totally open.
• But in a temple the main temple occupies the area of the court.

Walls and Surfaces:

• The temple was given the texture of stone and the natural tint.
• The presentation of human figures, sculptures, imagery are prohibited in Islam structures.
• The walls of a mosque are decorated in geometrical patterns in different coloured marbles, plaster, stucco, paints and
glazed tiles.

Trabeate and Arcuate:

• The indigenous architecture of India was of Trabeate order, in which the void spaces in the walls were spanned by
means of horizontal lintels or beams.
• Arch technique is different used by Mohammedan builders. An arch can be made up of bricks or pieces of stones

Roofs:

• Roofs are mostly flat.
• temples have pyramidal roofs or Sikharas.
• With the advent of Mohammedans, the dome came into existence.

Factors Responsible for Production of Great Islam Buildings:

1. late development
2. due to the remarkable genius of Indian craftsmen

The Mosque (Masjid):

• The mosque or masjid is the worshipping place of Islams. It is open in its design.

Main elements:

• Sanctuary on west side
• Mihrab – a sacred focal point in the Sanctuary
• Minbar – a pulpit in the Sanctuary
• Surrounding cloisters called Liwans
• An open courtyard called Sahn

Sanctuary:

• Sanctuary is a pillared hall opening itself on east into the courtyard.
• The hall is used for religious congregations and prayers called Namaz.
• A portion of the sanctuary is screened off into a compartment for women (Zenana) in some mosques.
• The sanctuary has a central nave and side aisles.
• The nave is often spacious and raised higher in roof than the aisles.
• Some mosques have only sanctuary and they had no central open court and cloisters.
• The façade of sanctuary was monumentally built in some mosques.
• There is continuous change, innovation and development in the design of pillars, arches, mihrab, parapets, kiosks and
turrets

Mihrab:

• A religious structure however needs a focal point.
• To meet this, a recess or an alcove called Mihrab is placed in the center of western wall in the nave of sanctuary
indicating the Qibla or direction of prayer. Mihrab is a prayer niche

Minbar:

• a raised platform with steps for the preacher to deliver the sermon
• placed to the north of Mihrab in the sanctuary.

Open Courtyard and Cloisters:

• In front of sanctuary an open place takes place without roof called Sahn. The other three sides are covered by pillared
cloisters called Liwans. The mosque is totally enclosed and secured. It is entered usually through three gates each on
east, south and north except on west. Main entrance mostly takes place on east. A water tank is placed in the center
of open court for ablutions. Occasionally a fountain also takes place in this tank.

Screen of Arches and Dome:

• The mosque sanctuary appeared like a temple pillared hall (Mandapa). Therefore to impose the appearance of a
mosque, a separate screen of arches of huge size was added across the front of the sanctuary

Designs of Mosques:

• Layout of these mosques is same in all mosques having sanctuary on west side and cloisters on other sides.
• Entrances, façades, arches and domes are varied in their mass and design.
• Row of arches became the prominent feature.
• Sanctuary façades varied in designs like simple, ornamental, artistic, monumental, fine and royal.

Feature wise examples are mentioned here:

• i. Sanctuary nave is spacious and pillars less in some mosques. Eg- Adina masjid, Pandua Jaunpur mosques.
• ii. Classical decorated pillars are made in the nave making a Rotunda extended in tiers above. Eg- Jama masjid,
Ahmedabad.
• iii. Sanctuary and cloister entrances are much elaborated, projected and highlighted. Eg- Jaunpur mosques and Jama
masjid, Ahmedabad.
• iv. Central arch of Sanctuary façade is made different by means of foliated arch. Eg- Jama masjid, Bijapur.
• v. One and only example of Mosque which has no open central court is- Jama masjid, Gulbarga.
• vi. Worshiping hall for Royals (Chapel) and Zenana were added in first floor in a grand scale. Eg- Adina masjid, Pandua
and Jaunpur mosques.
• vii. Royal and palace type mosques are- Jama masjid, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and Jama masjid, Delhi.
• vii. Simple design mosques are- Jama masjid, Mandu and Bijapur

The Tomb:

• The custom of Hindus is to cremate the dead body.
• Tomb is the everlasting abode for the dead. Finest Indo-Islamic architecture was developed in these structures.
• The tomb building consists of a single compartment or a chamber known as ‘Huzrah’ or ‘Estanah’. The cenotaph or
Zarih is in the center. The whole structure is roofed over by a dome.
• The mortuary chamber called the ‘Maqbarah’ takes place in the ground underneath with the grave or Qabr in the
middle.
• Mihrab is placed in the western wall.
• A separate mosque building is added in some of the larger mausoleums, the whole being contained within an
enclosure called ‘Rauza’.
• Important tombs are designated as ‘Dargahs’ a Persian word signifying a court or palace.

Designs of Tombs:

• Tomb building designs vary from one to other and that of Sultans mainly Tughlaqs, Sayyids and Lodis are either
Square or Octagonal in plans built at Delhi.
• Square tombs are taller and Octagonal tombs are wider in general. These structures had battering walls, sphere head
fringes in arches, merlon parapets, central dome and kiosks.
• Designs of Mogul tombs are large, spacious, fine, rich and monumental in appearance consisting of surrounding
garden, enclosure walls and gateways.
• They are square in plan having chamfered corners. Domes, kiosks and slender turrets sky-lined on these tomb
structures. Fine Ashlar masonry and close inlaid patterns are seen in Mogul tomb structures.

Examples of Tombs:

• Earlier tomb – Tomb of Shams-ud-din Altumush, Delhi
• Beautiful tomb – Taj Mahal, Agra
• Large tomb – Golgumbaz, Bijapur
• Fine and Variety tomb – Itmad ud Daula, Agra
• Later tomb – Mausoleum of Safdar Jung, Delhi

Tin Darwaza, Ahmedabad, 1425 C.E:

• a triumphal archway in the city of Ahmedabad.

• central feature of Ahmed shah’s processional route, connecting the palace and the Jama Masjid, Ahmedabad.
• The archway is known as Tin Darwaza or triple doors

Wavs or Step Wells:

• common in the towns of western India.
• the region is hot and nearer to desert, hence public wells were built to meet people’s water needs
• The Wavs of Gujarat took the form of extensive subterranean galleries of a high architectural value.