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IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : India History From 8th to 15th Century - Art and Architecture of Delhi Sultanate

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

History India From 8th to 15th Century

Art and Architecture of Delhi Sultanate

Structure

31.0 Objectives
31.1 Introduction
31.2 Architecture
31.2.1 New Struaural Forms
31.2.2 StyliQc Evolution
31.2.3 Public Buildings and Public Works i 31.3 Painting
31.3.1 Literary Evidence for Murals
31.3.2 The Qumaic Calligraphy
31.3.3 Manuscript Illustration
31.4 Music
31.5 Let Us Sum Up
31.6 Key Words
31.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

31.0 OBJECTIVES

In Unit 14, you read about the establishment and consolidation of the ruledf the
urkish Sultans in India. The new rulers established a regime thatwas in some'
profound respects different from the old. India now witnessed the emergence of a
culture which combined elements of both indigenous and Islamic traditions. The
most effedve and distinct manifestation of this synthetic culture is to be seen in the
art and architecture of this period.
After going through this Unit, you should be able to :
distinguish between the pre-Islamic and Indo-Islamic styles of building,
identify major architectural styles of the period,
Rriw the traditions of painting prevalent in the Delhi Sultanate, and
learn the major developments in qusic during this period.

31.1 INTRODUCTION

Art and architecture are true manifestations of the culture of a period as they reflect
the mind and approach of that society. It is here that the ideas aql techniques of a
society find visual expression. The adient of the Turkish rule in India is significant in
more than one respect;xWhile it gave rise to a new socio-political system which you
read about in Units 29 and 30, it also marked the beginning of a new expression in
art. The style of architecture that evolved during this time is called Indo-Islamic.
Unlike architecture, the art of painting as practised in the Delhi Sultanate is not
properly documented. We know that calligraphy and book-illumination in the
Islamic world had achieved supreme heights by the close of the 12th century; there
also existed a developed tradition of figural murals in the Ghaznavi kingdom.
Possibly the same tradition was camed to Delhi by the early Turkish Sultans where
it flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries.