The Taj Mahal, is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi, India..The complex was built over demolished ruins of ancient Jain and Hindu site. Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who later became the first Sultan of Delhi of the Mamluk dynasty. It was continued by his successor Iltutmish, and finally completed much later by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, a Sultan of Delhi from the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1412) in 1368 AD. The Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque, later corrupted into Quwwat-ul Islam, stands next to the Qutb Minar.
The Qutub Minar, also spelled as Qutb Minar and Qutab Minar, is a minaret and "victory tower" that forms part of the Qutb complex. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of South Delhi, India. It is one of most visited tourist spots in the city due to it being one of the earliest that survives in the Indian subcontinent.
Ala'i Darwaza is the southern gateway of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Qutb complex, Mehrauli, Delhi, India. Built by Sultan Alauddin Khalji in 1311 and made of red sandstone, it is a square domed gatehouse with arched entrances and houses a single chamber.
The Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife consort, Empress and the mother of his successor, the third Mughal emperor Akbar. Hamida Banu Begum, in 1558, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and his son, Sayyid Muhammad, Persian architects chosen by her. It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, close to the Dina-panah Citadel, also known as Purana Qila, that Humayun found in 1533. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale. The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is complete. Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun, several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West, including one that even pre-dates the main tomb itself, by twenty years; it is the tomb complex of Isa Khan Niyazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri's court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE.
Mughal architecture is the type of Indo-Islamic architecture developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent. It developed the styles of earlier Muslim dynasties in India as an amalgam of Islamic, Persian and Indian architecture. Mughal buildings have a uniform pattern of structure and character, including large bulbous domes, slender minarets at the corners, massive halls, large vaulted gateways, and delicate ornamentation; Examples of the style can be found in modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced by and for Islamic patrons and purposes. Despite an initial Arab presence in Sindh, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture began in earnest with the establishment of Delhi as the capital of the Ghurid dynasty in 1193. Succeeding the Ghurids was the Delhi Sultanate, a series of Central Asian dynasties that consolidated much of North India, and later the Mughal Empire by the 15th century. Both of these dynasties introduced Persianate architecture and art styles from Western Eurasia into the Indian subcontinent.
A jali or jaali is the term for a perforated stone or latticed screen, usually with an ornamental pattern constructed through the use of calligraphy, geometry or natural patterns. This form of architectural decoration is common in Indo-Islamic architecture and more generally in Indian architecture.
The Tomb of Jahangir is a 17th-century mausoleum built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The mausoleum dates from 1637, and is located in Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, along the banks of the Ravi River. The site is famous for its interiors that are extensively embellished with frescoes and marble, and its exterior that is richly decorated with pietra dura. The tomb, along with the adjacent Akbari Sarai and the Tomb of Asif Khan, are part of an ensemble currently on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status.
Chota Imambara, also known as Imambara Hussainabad Mubarak is an imposing monument located in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It took 54 years to finalize it. Built as an imambara or a congregation hall for Shia Muslims, by Muhammad Ali Shah, the Nawab of Awadh in 1838, it was to serve as a mausoleum for himself and his mother, who is buried beside him.
Safdarjung's Tomb is a sandstone and marble mausoleum in Delhi, India. It was built in 1754 in the late Mughal Empire style for Nawab Safdarjung. The monument has an ambience of spaciousness and an imposing presence with its domed and arched red brown and white coloured structures. Safdarjung, Nawab of Oudh, was made prime minister of the Mughal Empire when Ahmed Shah Bahadur ascended the throne in 1748.
The Tomb of Ghiyas ud din Balban is located in Mehrauli, New Delhi, India. Built in circa 1287 CE in rubble masonry, the tomb is a building of historical importance in the development of Indo-Islamic architecture, as it was here that first Islamic arch made its appearance in India, and according to many, the first Islamic dome as well, which however hasn't survived, making Alai Darwaza built in 1311 CE, in the nearby Qutb complex, the earliest surviving dome in India. Ghiyas ud din Balban (1200–1287) was a Turkic ruler of the Delhi Sultanate during the rule of Mamluk dynasty of Delhi from 1266 to 1287. He was one of the most prominent rulers of the Slave Dynasty. The tomb of Balban was discovered in the mid-20th century.
Sultan Ghari was the first Islamic Mausoleum (tomb) built in 1231 AD for Prince Nasiru'd-Din Mahmud, eldest son of Iltumish, in the "funerary landscape of Delhi" in the Nangal Dewat Forest, Near Nangal Dewat Vasant Kunj).
The Gates of Delhi were city gates in Delhi, India, built under dynastic rulers in the period that could be dated from the 8th century to the 20th century. They are the gates in
Jama Masjid, also known as Jumah Mosque or Jami' Masjid, is a mosque in Ahmedabad, and was built in 1424 during the reign of Ahmad Shah I. The inscription on the central mihrab commemorates the inauguration of the mosque on the 1st Safar A.H. 827 or January 4, 1424 A.D. by Sultan Ahmad Shah I. The mosque lies in the old walled city, and it is situated outside Bhadra Fort area. The old walled city is divided into separate quarters or pols, and the Jami' Masjid is found on the Gandhi Road. Along the south side of the road, the mosque is a short distance beyond the Teen Darwaza or Tripolia Gate.
Persian Inscriptions on Indian Monuments is a book written in Persian by Dr Ali Asghar Hekmat E Shirazi and published in 1956 and 1958 and 2013. New edition contains the Persian texts of more than 200 epigraphical inscriptions found on historical monuments in India, many of which are currently listed as national heritage sites or registered as UNESCO world heritage, published in Persian; an English edition is also being printed.
Tughlaq Tombs in the Indian subcontinent are mostly simple, monotonous and heavy structures in Indo-Islamic architecture built during the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1413). They look more like fortresses with walls surrounding them and have restrained decoration and embellishment compared to both earlier and later Indian Islamic tombs. Their architecture lacks the influence from Hindu temple architecture and craftsmanship which was later found in Lodi and Mughal architecture. But Hindu influence on Tughlaq buildings was not totally absent. Features of Hindu influences on Tughlaq architecture include the flat lintel instead of pointed arch, pillars, windows with balconies and eaves and railings.
The Architecture of Delhi dates back more than a thousand years. As the capital of several great empires of India, including Rajput kingdom, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, and British Raj, the city of Delhi has been a centre for art and architecture.
The tomb of the noble Isa Khan Niazi is located in the Humayun's Tomb complex in Delhi, India. The mausoleum, octagonal in shape and built mainly of red sandstone, was built in 1547–1548 during the reign of Sher Shah Suri. The mosque of Isa Khan is located west of the mausoleum, which along with other buildings form the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Humayun's tomb complex.
The Afsarwala tomb complex consists of a tomb and mosque, located inside the Humayun's Tomb complex in Delhi, India. The mausoleum houses the tomb of an unknown person. The tomb, together with other structures, forms the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Humayun's tomb complex.
