CLASS-VII HISTORY
CHAPTER
5. RULERS AND BUILDINGS
·
1ST
Balcony of QutbMinar made by QutbuddinAybak in 1199-small arches, geometricai
designs.
Kinds of Structures:
8th-18th
century structures
·
Temples,
Mosques, Bazars-for common man
·
Forts,
Palaces and Tombs- for grandiose of king
Agra
Fort by Akbar:
2,000 stone – cutters, 2,000 cement and lime-makers and 8,000 laborers.
Engineering Skills
•
Roof
with beams
•
Slab
of stones with 4 walls
•
Large
room with superstructure (part of building above ground floor)- more
sophisticated
•
Between
7th- 10th century: More rooms, doors and windows added
•
“Trabeate”
or “corbelled” architecture : Placing a horizontal beam across two vertical columns-
in temple, mosque, tom and large stepped wells.
•
Arcuate: ‘true’ arch and ‘keystone’ at the centre
of arch transferred weight of superstructure to base of arch.
•
Limestone
cement mixed with stone chips hardened into concrete
•
Khajuraho
complex contained royal temples where commoners were not allowed to entry
•
Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur had
tallest Shikhara amongst temple of its time- had no cranes and idea was to lift
90 ton stone for top of shikhara (with inclined path of 4km. And boulders were
rolled to the top).
•
Even
now a village near the temple is called Charupallam, the “ village of Incline”.
Built by king Rajarajadeva to worship god, rajarajeshvaram. King took the name
of God and wanted to appear like God.
MOSQUES
•
Muslims
Sultans and Padshahs did not claim to be incarnations of god but Persian court
chronicles described Sultan as the Shadow of God
•
God
chose Alauddin as a king because he had the qualities of Moses and Solomon, the
great law- givers of the past.
•
Greatest
law-giver and architect was God himself.
•
Introduced
order and symmetry
•
Ab means water-abad (populaṭed)
&abadi (flourishing)
•
Rulers
tried to transform capitals into cultural centers
•
Sultan
Iltutmish won universal respect for
constructing large reservoir just outside Delhi-I kuhna known as hauz-iSultani
or “the ‘King’s Reservoir”.
Why Temples were destroyed?
•
Kings
demonstrated power by temples and it was targeted
•
9th century: Pandyan king
ShrimaraShrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka and defeated king, Sena-I, removed gold
and Buddha statue
•
Sena
II invaded Madurai, capital of Pandyas (to find and restore gold statue of
Buddha)
•
11th century: Chola king
Rajendra I built Shiva temple and filled it with prized statues seized from
defeated rulers like Sun- pedestal, Ganesha, Durga, Nandi from Kalingas of
Odisha and Kali statue from Palas of Bengal.
•
Sultan
Mahmud of Ghazni was contemporary of Rajendra I. He looted Somnath.
GARDENS, TOMBS AND FORTS
•
Mughal
architecture was more complicated. Babur laid formal gardens, rectangular
enclosures, chaharbagh (4 gardens with symmetrical division of quarters- later
by Shah Jahan and Jahangir)
•
Akbar’s
architects turned to tombs of his Central Asian ancestor, Timur
•
Humayun Tomb: Central towering dome and tall gateway
(pishtaq), placed in chaharbagh built in tradition known as “Bengal- Local
rulers developed roof designed to resemble thatched hut, Mughals used his
Balgla Dome.
•
Akbar’s
capital at Fatehpur Sikri – impact of architectural styles of Gujrat and Malwa.
•
12th
century- France build churches that were taller and lighter than earlier buildings. Gothic style had high
pointed arches, use of stained glass,
often painted with scenes drawn from the Bible, and flying buttresses. Tall
spires and bell towers were visible from a distance were added to the church-
Notre Dame Church in Paris.
•
central
hall surrounded by eight rooms. Building was constructed with red sandstone,
edged with white marble.
•
Shah
Jahan: fused Mughal architectural elements, construction in Delhi and Agra,
ceremonial halls of public and private audience (diwan-i-khas or am) or
chihilsutun or 40-pillars halls within a large courtyard. Audience hall was
similar to mosque. Pedestal where throne was placed was called Qibla (direction
faced by Muslims during prayer)
•
Red Fort: Series of pietra dura inlays depicting
legendary Greek god Orpheus playing the lute behind emperor’s throne. Shah
Jahan’s audience hall communicated that king’s justice would treat high and low
as equal where all could live together in harmony. Initial capital was Agra
with Taj Mahal, white marble mausoleum was placed on a terrace by the edge of
the river and the garden was to its south. It was completed in 1643.
•
New
city of Sahajahanabad constructed in Delhi, imperial palace commanded the river
– front.Only specially favoured nobles – like his eldest son Dara Shukoh- were
given access to the river, rest all had to construct their homes in the city
away from river- Yamuna.
INTERMINGLING
•
In
Vijayanagara, elephant stables of rulers were strongly influenced by the style
of architecture found in the adjoining Sultanates of Bijapur and Golkonda.
•
In
Vrindavan, near Mathura, temples were similar to the Mughal palaces in Fatehpur
Sikri. Style of architecture is from NW Iran (Khurasan) for high celling roof
and was used in Fatehpur Sikri
•
Cross
fertilization of architectural forms took place.
•
Bengal-
Local rulers developed roof designed to resemble thatched hut, Mughals used his
Balgla Dome.
•
Akbar’s
capital at Fatehpur Sikri – impact of architectural styles of Gujrat and Malwa.
•
12th
century- France build churches that were taller and lighter than earlier
buildings. Gothic style had high pointed arches, use of stained glass, often painted with scenes drawn from
the Bible, and flying buttresses. Tall spires and bell towers were visible from
a distance were added to the church- Notre Dame Church in Paris.
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