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Architecture of India The invasion of Timurlane (see previous article) left Delhi sacked and in ruins. The once mighty city of the Delhi Sultanate, home to kings and dynasties, was left a shattered wreck. It took more than a century for the city to regain a semblance of its former prestige, first under the Sayyids and then under the Lodis. This was, as it would eventually turn out, a mere pause, for the death knell of the Sultanate had long been sounded, and it only remained for Babur to invade India to lay the foundation of that mightiest of dynasties in India – the great Mughals. Still, this event was some years away. Building work in Delhi continued after a fashion, yet the prodigious output of the previous dynasties in terms of capitals, fortresses and civil work was replaced by a more somber, funerary architecture of tombs and mosques. In the words of Percy Brown, “Scores of large tombs therefore arose within its (Delhi’s) neighborhood, so much so that in the course of time the country around the capital was converted into a large necropolis.*” The Sultans and the Nobles
With minor modifications such as raising the height of the dome to make it more visible, these tombs carried on with little major modification. The culmination would probably be Sher Shah’s magnificent tomb in Sasaram, Bihar, which will be discussed in a later column. One notable addition in the tomb of Sikander Lodi (died 1517 A.D.) was the introduction of a double dome, for the first time in India. A double dome consists of an inner and outer shell, and this innovation becomes necessary when the height of the dome is increased to create a more imposing elevation. Unfortunately, the height of the inner chamber also increases, making it all out of proportion to the inner spaces. To prevent this, an inner, lower shell is added to the dome.
It seems clear enough that the octagonal tombs were reserved for the royal line, i.e. the sultans (examples being those of Mubarak Sayyid, Muhammed Sayyid, and Sikander Lodi), whereas the square tombs were for high-ranking nobles. However, while the octagonal tombs are all identifiable, the square ones are known merely by their common names and it is not known any longer who lies buried in them. * Brown, Percy Indian Architecture (Islamic Period) D.B. Taraporevala Sons and Co. Pvt. Ltd. Bombay, 1975, p. 26 |
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A closer examination
shows that we can classify the tombs built during this period (15th and 16th
centuries) into two types based on their plan. The first, based on an
octagonal plan, were derivations from the original of Khan-i-Jahan Telegani (
The other type of tomb of tomb was square in plan, without a verandah, and
going up to three stories in height, or rather, the illusion of stories, as
this effect was mostly given by lines of stones and arches as decorative
elements, to make the exterior proportion acceptable, whereas the interior in
reality was a double or triple height space. The façade had a central
rectangle articulated by an arched doorway, and the roof, as in the octagonal
type, had a dome. 