Department of ARCHITECTURE & TOWN PLANNING

M.B.M. Engineering College,

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE,
Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (Raj.) - 342011

Submitted toAr. Harendra Bohra

Submitted byDhara Sharma
Pratibha Jangid
Purohit Nikita Rajkumar
Vikram Singh Sisodiya

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
PROVINCIAL ARCHITECTURE:GUJRAT
ARCHITECTURE There are two main reasons for the indo-islamic
architecture of this part of the country being preeminent, one, owing to the assiduous patronage and
building ambitions of the muslim dynasty who ruled it,
and the other to the profound artistic traditions of the
inhabitants.
The muslim rulers were almost entirely dependent on
such local labour as was forthcoming to carry out any
of their projects, architectural or otherwise, and
accordingly, in view of their building aspirations they
were fortunate in finding in the country of gujarat some
of the most accomplished artizans in the whole of india.

 In Gujrat Architecture,Gujarat artizans found the

release from such restraint not unwelcdDle, for in
spite of being now under subjection they certainly
expressed themselves even more abun- dantly than
when independent yet enslaved by their own hieratic
conventions.
Because of Local craftmans Islamic Gujrat
Architecture looks like jain and Hindu Architecture.
This Islamic style of architecture flourished in Gujarat
for a period of some two hundred and fifty yean from
the time early in the fourteenth century when the
Governor appointed by the Khalji Sultans of Delhi
established themselves in the towns of the western
sea- board, until the independent rule of the Ahmad
Shahi dynesty declined, and the country in the last
half of the sixteenth century was absorbed into the
empire of the mughuls.

FIRST AND SECOND PERIODS (1300 to

1459)
PATAN
1. Tomb of Shaikh Farid (Muslim Saint) conflated Hindu
or Jain Temple 1300
2. Adina Masjid, built by Ulugh Khan, Goveraor of Alaud-din Khalji, size of enclosure 400 feet by 330
feet. 1050 pillars (mainly destroyed) 1300
BRAECH
3. Jami masjid 1300
CAMBAY
4. Jami Masjid 1325 Tomb of founder adjoining above,
adapted from temple spoils 1333
DHOLKA
5. Hlal Khan Qazi's Mosque I333
6. Tak or Tanka Masjid 1361

 the period of the fourteenth century, particularly

during its earlier half, there was first the customary
phase of demolition followed by one of
reconversion.
In the building of this stage much of the
construction has the appearance of being formative
and experimental some of the mosques have a
certain charm and considerable dignity, but the
Domes and ten smaller ones, while the ceilings are
elaborately decorated with cusped and other
geometrical patterns which had previously adorned
some temple roof. This particular treatment of the
square sunk coffered ceilings persisted throughout
the style, as it was very effective and the designs
being usually of a conventional order were not
contrary to the tenets of Islam.

MOSQUE OF HILAL KHAN QAZI in A.D. 1333, is the mosque of Hilal Khan Qazi at
Dholka.
It is a smaller and even simpler structure but with a
notable innovation to the facade in the shape of a pair
of tall ornamental turrets, one on each side of the
central archway.
In design these turrets are indigenous, with no definite
traces of Islamic influence, but they are apparently an
attempt to produce something corresponding to a
minaret, without however any exact knowledge as to
what this was like. or for what purpose it was intended.
Their significance lies in the fact that they provide an
early indication of that demand for a minaret, a feature
which afterwards became an outstanding element in
the Gujarat mosque design.

MOSQUE AT DHOLKA Mosque at Dholka is that known as the Tak, or

Tanka Masjid bearing the date 1361, and is of the
open variety.
Its sanctuary consisting of pillars, over a hundred
in number, of a singularly rich type, and its
decoration is of the same elaborate order, but all
of purely Hindu origin.
Except that it carries on the style for another
stage, and shows that the temple attributions still
persisted,
this
mosque
is
architecturally
unimportant.

SECOND PERIODAHMEDABAD (founded 14II)

1. Ahmed Shah's Mosque within the Citadel 1411
2. Haibatt Khan's Mosque 1412
3. Sayyid Alam's Mosque 1412
4. Jami Masjid, finished 1423
5. Tin Darwaza or Triple Gateway 1415
6. Tomb of Ahmed Shah 1440
7. Tombs of the Queens (Rani-ka-Hujra) 1440
SARKHEJ
8. Rauza of Shaikh Ahmed Khattri Tomb of Darya Khan
1446-1451
DHOLKA
9. Alif Khan's Mosque 1453
AHMEDABAD
10.Qutb-ud-din's Mosque 1454
11.Rauza of Malik Sha'ban, begun 1454
12.Rauza of Sayyid Buddha bin Sayyid Yaqut 1454

 The Second Period into which the provincial style of

Gujarat has been resolved, and which flourished
during the first half of the fifteenth century owed its
remarkable development to the forceful personality
of Ahmad Shah I.
This ruler began his long and prosperous reign by
founding, in 1411, the capital city of his dominions,
naming it after himself, Ahmedabad, and with its
construction he also inaugurated an era of
unparalleled architectural activity.
For, stimulated by his zeal for building projects on a
large scale, the officials of the court, and other
eminent persons, also undertook the production of
mosques, tombs, and similar structures within the
precincts of the capital, so that few cities can boast
of more or finer examples of monumental
architecture than the capital seat of the Ahmad
Shahi dynasty.

JAMI MASJID,AHAMDABAD
The Jami Masjid of Ahmedabad which was finished in
A.D. 1423.
It represents a definitely logical development from
the earlier structures just described, some of which,
as already shown, bear evidences of being
exploratory and inventive, others tentative and not
quite sure of themselves but one and all making
their contribution of parts to the whole. At this
particular juncture.
The building art takes a decisive step forward. it rises
to a higher plane, from the previous stage of
hesitation and experiment to something approaching
a complete and perfect realization of the ideal.For
this building speaks of that "silent flowering in stone
of the souls of men, whose ways of life and thought
had followed into the things made by their hands."
The architectural effect of this mosque is

 In his conception of the front elevation of this

sanctuary the architect has combined the two
different facade conventions, the screen of
arches on the one hand and the pillared portico
on the other, placing the former in the centre
with the latter on the wings. It is an arrangement
which had been already attempted with some
degree of success in the Sayyid Alam facade.
but the designer of the Jami Masjid skilfully
brought it into a closer relationship with the
whole.
By means of the juxtaposition of the screen with
the columns he achieved at once a subtle
contrast between the volume and strength of the
wall surface. and the depth and airy lightness of
the colonnade.
As a composition of solids and voids this facade
is superb. with its three main openings well
balanced and in excellent proportion, the large

 The interior of this mosque sanctuary takes the form

of a hypostyle hall 210 feet long and 95 feet deep,
and consists of some three hundred tall slender
pillars, so closely set, that the average intercalumniation is less than 'five feet, thus simulating a
thick grove of silver pine trunks.
The arrangements of these pillars however has been
carefully planned, as they are symmetrically
disposed into a series of Square bays, fifteen in
number, connected by columned interspace's and
each covered by a dome.
The central compartment of nave rises up into three
stories, the side aisles being in two stories, while the
remainder of the interior is one story only in height,
save where there is a hanging gallery, or mezzanine,
in the north transept for the zenana.
The nave is composed of two pillared galleries one
above the other, the whole structure being
supported on the tall columns of the hall below.

THIRD OR BEGARHA PERIOD (1459 to cit. 1550)

AHMEDABAD
1. Rauza of Sayyid Usman at Usmanpur 1460
2. Masjid of Malik Alam at Dani Limdi 1460
3. Masjid of Dastur Khan 1463
4. Mosque of Miyan Khan Chisti 1465
5. Mosque of Bibi Achut Kuki 1472
6. Mausoleum of Shah Alam 1475
7. Masjid of Shah Fazl 1487
.BATWA
1. Tomb of 2utb'l Alam 1480
.MAHMUDABAD
1. lfausoleum of Mubarak Sayyid 1484
.CHAMPANIR
1. Jami Masjid and other buildings 148s-1507

TIN DARWAJA
The Tin Darwaza is however barely 37 feet in height
as compared with that of Semptimus Severus which is
68 feet, but in most of its other dimensions it exceeds
the Roman production, as it is 80 feet wide and 45
feet deep.
A fault in its design may be felt in the relative
proportions of its three archways, as while all these
are of equal height.
Those at the sides are not much narrower than that in
the centre, a great contrast between them might have
produced a more rhythmic result.
The chief attractions of this structure as a whole are
the bold yet graceful shapes of its arches, the skilful
arrangement of its parapet relieved by the three
elegant oriel windows on brackets, and the form and
rich carving of the buttresses projecting from the front
of each pier. But it owes much of its refined aesthetic

There being few pointed arches throughout the whole

range of Indian architecture equal to those in the
buildings of Gujarat, and in the Tin Darwaza these are
seen at their best.

 AHMEDABAD
1. Mosque of Muhafiz Khan 1492
2. Bai Hari's wav or step-well 1499
3. Rauza of Darvesh Ali or Oja Bibi 1504
4. Rauza of Rani Separi 1505
5. Sidi Bashir's Mosque 1510
6. Minars at Railway Station 1510
7. Path Masjid 1510
8. Gumti Masjid, Isanpur 1510
9. Paldi Mochrab Ilasjid 1510
10.Mosque of Sidi Sayyid1515
11.Rauza of Rani Rupavati (QueeJlS Mosque)1515
12.Mosque at the mausoleum of Shah Alam 1550
13.Mosque of Mohammed Ghaus 1550

 three important cities were founded by Mahmud I

Begarha, (1459-15Il) each one adorned with noble
buildings, while Ahmedabad, the capital.
the mosque front had advanced a further stage in its
evolution, as apart from the fact that the facades were
of two kinds. either closed or open, other conventions
were appearing.
the minarets which form an essential feature of the
facade, project always from the centre, one on each
side of the main archway.
On the other hand in the case of the open form of
frontage, as this consists of a range of pillars, there
was no place for the minarets except at the sides, so
these were accordingly relegated to each end of its
facade. In this closed form of sanctuary: as the style
progressed the minarets at the angles gradually
diminished in importable, becoming more slender in
their proportions, until they finally ceased to function
as minarets with inside staircases eventually taking

BAI HARI STEP WELL ,AHAMDABAD

The Bai Hari. being 125 feet long. 18 feet wide. and
30 feet deep.
A vertical well-shaft from which water is drawn up
by ropes in the usual manner, and a commodious
inclined passageway descending by means of
flights of steps in regular stages to the level of the
water.
Two of the most elaborate of these step-wells are
the Bai Hari's wav in Ahmedabad constructed in
1499.
and that at Adalaj a village about twelve miles
north of that city and built about the same time.
the only parts of the struc- ture above ground level
are the kiosks at each end of the scheme. the
whole of the remainder being underground.