The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his beloved 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.
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.
The Red Fort or Lal Qila is a historic fort in the Old Delhi neighbourhood of Delhi, India, that historically served as the main residence of the Mughal emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, when he decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. Originally red and white, its design is credited to architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who also constructed the Taj Mahal. The fort represents the peak in the Mughal architecture under Shah Jahan and combines Persian palace architecture with Indian traditions.
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.
Abul Mansur Mirza Muhammad Muqim Ali Khan Beg, better known as Safdar Jang, was a major figure at the Mughal court during the declining years of the Mughal Empire. He became the second Nawab of Awadh when he succeeded Saadat Ali Khan I in 1739. All future Nawabs of Awadh were patriarchal descendants of Safdar Jang.
Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah is a Mughal mausoleum in the city of Agra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Often described as a "jewel box", sometimes called the "Bachcha Taj" or the "Baby Taj", the tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal.
A charbagh or chaharbagh is a Persian and Indo-Persian quadrilateral garden with a layout of four gardens traditionally separated by waterways, together representing the four gardens and four rivers of Paradise mentioned in the Quran. The chaharbagh may also be divided by walkways instead of flowing water. Such gardens are found in countries throughout West Asia, South Asia, North Africa and the former al-Andalus. A famous example of a charbagh is that of the Taj Mahal in India.
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, East, and Central India, and later by the Mughal Empire during the early 16th century. Both of these dynasties introduced Islamic architecture and art styles from West Asia into the Indian subcontinent.
The Bibi Ka Maqbara is a tomb located in the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was commissioned in 1660 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's son prince Azam Shah in the memory of his loving mother Dilras Banu Begum. It bears a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum of Aurangzeb's mother, Mumtaz Mahal and that is why it is also called the Taj of the Deccan. Aurangzeb was not much interested in architecture though he had commissioned the small, but elegant, Moti Masjid at Delhi. Bibi Ka Maqbara is the second largest structure that Aurangzeb has built, the largest being the Badshahi Mosque.
Akbar's tomb is the mausoleum of the third and greatest Mughal emperor Akbar. The tomb was built in 1605–1613 by his son, Jahangir and is situated on 119 acres of grounds in Sikandra, a suburb of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The buildings are constructed mainly from a deep red sandstone, enriched with features in white marble.
The Taj Mahal represents the finest and most sophisticated example of Indo-Islamic architecture. Its origins lie in the moving circumstances of its commission and the culture and history of an Islamic Mughal empire's rule of large parts of India. The distraught Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the project upon the death of one of his favorite wives Mumtaz Mahal.
Mehtab Bagh is a charbagh complex in Agra, North India. It lies north of the Taj Mahal complex and the Agra Fort on the opposite side of the Yamuna River, in the flood plains. The garden complex, square in shape, measures about 300 by 300 metres and is perfectly aligned with the Taj Mahal on the opposite bank. During the rainy season, the ground becomes partially flooded.
Lal Bangla are two imperial late-Mughal mausoleums located in Delhi, India, that are that protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.
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.
The architecture of Delhi dates back more than a thousand years. As the capital of several empires of India, including the 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.
Shalimar Bagh also known as Shalimar Garden is a Mughal garden located on the banks of Yamuna river in Delhi, India. It was named as Aizzabad Bagh when the garden was laid by Izz-un-Nissa wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1653 as a tribute and replica of Shalimar Bagh, Kashmir, laid by erstwhile Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1619, the Shalimar Bagh of Delhi is now abandoned but still houses shade trees, majestic parterre and structure such as the Sheesh Mahal and the garden pavilion.
