Class 7 History

Rulers and Buildings

Learning Goals:

Destruction of temples

Since rulers demonstrated their devotion to god and their power and wealth by constructing temples, it is obvious that temples were targeted when kingdoms were attacked. Some such instances are as follows:

Shrimara Shrivallabha

When this Pandyan king invaded Sri Lanka in the early ninth century, he seized valuable items like the statue of Buddha made of gold.

Sena II

To avenge the above attack, the next Sinhalese ruler, Sena II attacked Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas. He tried to restore the above mentioned Buddha statue.

Rajendra I

In the 11th century, when he built a Shiva temple, he filled it with prized statues seized from defeated rulers.

Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni

He was a contemporary of Rajendra I. During his campaigns in the subcontinent, he also attacked the temples of defeated kings and indulged in looting of their wealth and idols. Though he was not a very important ruler at that time, he gained a lot of appreciation as a great hero of Islam due to his attack on temples (especially the one at Somnath).

Gardens, Tombs and Forts

Architecture became more complex during the Mughal period. Many Mughal rulers like, Babur, Humayun, Jahangir, Akbar and especially Shah Jahan took keen interest in literature, art and architecture.

Babur

In his autobiography, he described his interest in planning and laying out formal gardens, placed within rectangular walled enclosures and divided into four quarters by artificial channels. These gardens were called chahar bagh (four gardens) because of the symmetry in their division into quarters.

Important aspects of Mughal architecture like the central towering dome and the tall gateway (pishtaq) were first visible during his reign. The tomb was placed in the centre of a huge formal chahar bagh and built in the tradition known as eight paradises or hasht bihisht which is a central hall surrounded by eight rooms. Red sandstone edged with white marble was used in the construction of the building.

Akbar

During his reign there were many important architectural innovations. These were inspired by the tombs of his Central Asian ancestor, Timur. Beginning with Akbar, some of the most beautiful chahar baghs were constructed by Jahangir and Shah Jahan in Kashmir, Agra and Delhi.

Shah Jahan

Different elements of Mughal architecture were fused together in a grand harmonious synthesis during his reign. Huge amount of construction activity, especially in Delhi and Agra, took place during his reign. The ceremonial halls of public and private audience (diwan-I khas o am) were planned carefully. These courts, placed within a large courtyard, were also described as chihil sutun or forty-pillared halls. His audience halls resembled a mosque. The pedestal on which his throne was placed was described frequently as qibla, the direction faced by Muslims while praying. This is because everyone faced that side when the court was in session. These architectural features suggest the idea of king as God's representative.

He emphasized the connection between royal justice and imperial court. In his throne were a series of pietra dura inlays that depicted the legendary Greek god Orpheus playing the lute. It was believed that Orpheus's music could calm the beasts till they coexisted peacefully. His audience hall aimed to give the message that the king's justice will treat all equally, creating a harmonious world.

During the early years of his reign, his capital was Agra, a city where the nobility had constructed their homes on the banks of the river Yamuna. These were set in the midst of formal gardens which were created in the chahar bagh format. There was also a variation of chahar bagh format present during the time. It was called the river-front garden in which the dwelling was not located in the middle of the chahar bagh but at its edge, close to the river bank.

Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan adapted the river-front garden for the layout of Taj Mahal. It was the grandest architectural accomplishment during his reign. In this, the white marble mausoleum was placed on a terrace by the edge of the river. The garden was to its south. He developed this architectural form as a means to control the nobles' access to the river. The imperial palace commanded the river front in the new city of Shahajahanabad that he constructed in Delhi. Only specially favoured nobles like his eldest son Dara Shukoh had access to the river. All others had to construct their homes in the city away from the Yamuna River.