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 few surviving structures from before the Delhi Sultanate period include Agrasen ki Baoli, Surajkund reservoir, Lal Kot and Qila Rai Pithora. There were several temples built during this period, remnants of which are still present in Qutb complex.
rajput is derived from the Hindi word "rajputra" meaning "the son of the ruler"
The Delhi Sultanate ruled the city between 1206 and 1526. Their rule saw the development of early Indo-Islamic architecture, the most prominent being the Qutb Minar complex, a group of monuments surrounding the Qutb Minar. This period also saw building of many forts and cities like Siri Fort, Tughlaqabad and Feroz Shah Kotla. Many tombs were built around this period which are still present in many locations like Qutb Minar complex, Hauz Khas Complex and Lodi Gardens.
Mughal Architecture emerged as a form of Indo-Islamic architecture during the rule of the Mughal Empire. Mughal architecture is characterized by large bulbous onion domes, the use of white marble and red sandstone, delicate ornamentation work, and large buildings surrounded by gardens on all four sides.
The Humayun's Tomb is the first notable example of Mughal architecture in Delhi. Except for a few architectures like Humayun's Tomb and Purana Qila, most of the architectural work of this period was done in Shah Jahan's time or later. This period also saw building of 18th century Astronomical Observatory called Jantar Mantar.
Another important achievement of this period was building of Mughal gardens. Its design was inspired by Persian Char Bagh Gardens. Some gardens built during Mughal period are garden built in front of Humayun's Tomb, Roshanara Bagh, Qudsia Bagh and Garden built in Safdarjang's tomb complex.
After Delhi was declared the site for a new capital of India, George V laid the foundation of New Delhi, which would serve as the capital. The British invited Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker to design the government buildings. This area would also be called Lutyens' Delhi in honor of the architect. Members of Lutyens' team of architects included Walter Sykes George, Arthur Gordon Shoosmith and Henry Medd. It is reported that Lutyens was reluctant to incorporate Indian features in his style, but later conceded.
The Supreme Court of India was designed by Ganesh Bhikaji Deolalikar in the same style as that of the other major buildings in Lutyens' Delhi. However, modernist architecture became prevalent in Delhi as well as all over India, especially after the influence of Le Corbusier. [5]
After Independence, the best examples of modern architecture in Delhi include IIT Delhi (1961) by Jugal Kishore Chodhury, Hall of Nations (1972) and Asian Games Village (1982) by Raj Rewal, Palika Kendra building (1984) by Kuldip Singh, and Lotus Temple (1986) by Fariborhz Sahba.
In 2017, the demolition of the Hall of Nations received worldwide condemnation from architectural enthusiasts. It was considered to be one of the best examples of modernist architecture in India. [6]
Indian architecture is rooted in the history, culture, and religion of India. Among several architectural styles and traditions, the best-known include the many varieties of Hindu temple architecture and Indo-Islamic architecture, especially Rajput architecture, Mughal architecture, South Indian architecture, and Indo-Saracenic architecture. Early Indian architecture was made from wood, which did not survive due to rotting and instability in the structures. Instead, the earliest existing architecture are made with Indian rock-cut architecture, including many Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples.
The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi, India. 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.
Humayun's tomb is the tomb of Mughal emperor, Mirza Nasir al-Din Muhammad commonly known as Humayun situated in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's first wife and chief consort, Empress Bega Begum under her patronage 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, close to the Dina-panah Citadel, also known as Purana Qila, that Humayun found in 1538. 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 Niazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri's court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE.
Mughal gardens are a type of garden built by the Mughals. This style was influenced by the Persian gardens particularly the Charbagh structure, which is intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia in which humans co-exist in perfect harmony with all elements of nature.
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 from the architectural styles of earlier Muslim dynasties in India and from Iranian and Central Asian architectural traditions, particularly Timurid architecture. It also further incorporated and syncretized influences from wider Indian architecture, especially during the reign of Akbar. 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.
Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, Delhi, India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurugram and next to Vasant Kunj.
Purana Qila is one of the oldest forts in Delhi, India. Built by the second Mughal Emperor Humayun and Surid Sultan Sher Shah Suri, it is thought by many to be located on the site of the ancient city of Indraprastha. The fort forms the inner citadel of the city of Dinpanah. It is located near the expansive Pragati Maidan exhibition ground and is separated from the Dhyanchand Stadium by the Mathura Road, Delhi.
Lal Kot or Qila Rai Pithora is a fortified complex in present-day Delhi, which includes the Qutb Minar complex. It was constructed in the reign of Tomar Rajput king Anangpal Tomar between c. 1052 - c.1060 CE. It is termed as the "First city of Delhi". Remains of the fort walls are scattered across South Delhi, visible in present Saket, Mehrauli around Qutb complex, Sanjay Van, Kishangarh and Vasant Kunj areas.
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 Islamic architecture and art styles from West Asia into the Indian subcontinent.
Delhi has been an important political centre of India as the capital of several empires. The recorded history of Delhi begins with the 8th century Tomar Rajputs kingdom. It is considered to be a city built, destroyed and rebuilt several times, as outsiders who successfully invaded the Indian subcontinent would ransack the existing capital city in Delhi, and those who came to conquer and stay would be so impressed by the city's strategic location as to make it their capital and rebuild it in their own way.
Hiran Minar is an early 16th-century Mughal era complex in Sheikhupura, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It was built at the site of a game reserve in honour of Mughal Emperor Jahangir's beloved antelope, Mansraj. The emperor is remembered for his fondness of nature, and his complex embodies the Mughal relationship between humans, pets and hunting.
Pakistani architecture is intertwined with the architecture of the broader Indian subcontinent. The major architectural styles popular in the past were Temple, Indo-Islamic, Mughal and Indo-Saracenic architecture, all of which have many regional varieties. With the beginning of the Indus civilization around the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, for the first time in the area which encompasses today's Pakistan an advanced urban culture developed with large structural facilities, some of which survive to this day. This was followed by the Gandhara style of Buddhist architecture that borrowed elements from Ancient Greece. These remnants are visible in the Gandhara capital of Taxila.
Jahanpanah was the fourth medieval city of Delhi established in 1326–1327 by Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–51), of the Delhi Sultanate. To address the constant threat of the Mongols, Tughlaq built the fortified city of Jahanpanah subsuming the Adilabad fort that had been built in the 14th century and also all the establishments lying between Qila Rai Pithora and Siri Fort. Neither the city nor the fort has survived. Many reasons have been offered for such a situation. One of which is stated as the idiosyncratic rule of Mohammed bin Tughlaq when inexplicably he shifted the capital to Daulatabad in the Deccan and came back to Delhi soon after.
The Gates of Delhi were city gates at various medieval townships around Delhi, built under dynastic rulers in the period that could be dated from the 8th century to the 20th century. They are the gates in:
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.
Deccani Architecture refers to the architectural styles developed during the Deccan sultanate period. The Deccan sultanates were five dynasties that ruled late medieval kingdoms, namely, Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Berar in south-western India. The Deccan sultanates were located on the Deccan Plateau. Their architecture was a regional variant of Indo-Islamic architecture, heavily influenced by the styles of the Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal architecture, but sometimes also directly from Persia and Central Asia.
A distinct Indo-Islamic architecture style with local contribution is reflected in the historical buildings of Hyderabad, making it the first and "Best Heritage City of India" as of March 2012. The city houses many famous historical sites constructed during Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi period, including various mosques and palaces.
The tomb of Imam Zamin is a mausoleum housing the remains of Muhammad Ali, an Islamic cleric of the 16th century. It is located at the Qutb Minar complex, Delhi, in India and was built by Ali himself during the reign of Mughal emperor Humayun, long after the original monuments of the complex were constructed.
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.