Red Fort, Delhi

                                                              Entrance to the Red Fort

                                                                     The Yamuna River

                                                               Interior of The Red Fort

                                        Linear ways and axial relationship are seen pertaining to

                                                characterize individual parts of The Red Fort.

Main Gate to The Red Fort 

At the heart of Shah Jahan’s new city stood The Red Fort a vast walled complex of palaces and assembly halls from which he ruled with unrivalled pomp and ceremony. 

It is a 17th-century fort complex constructed by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in the walled city of Old Delhi (in present day Delhi, India) The Red Fort served as the residence of the Mughal Emperors. The fort was the palace for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's new capital, Shahjahanabad, the seventh city in the Delhi till this day. 

The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the moats that surround most of the walls.  The construction of the Red Fort began in 1638 and was completed by 1648. The Red Fort has had many developments added on after its construction by Emperor Shah Jahan.

Above: One of the two imposing entrances to the Red Fort. The fort was a city within a city, housing a bazaar, many workshops and 50,000 people.

                                                     An amateur video inside the Red Fort 

Canal of Paradise

A shallow marble course known as the canal. The fortified outer wall, from which the modern name derives, was made of red standstone and many of the palace buildings within the wall are of white marble. The chief designer, Amad Lahwri, also designed the Taj Mahal building and garden. Shahjahanabad can be viewed as a Paradise Garden converted into a city plan. It has a series of great courts with colonnades, arcades, gateways and numerous buildings. The pavilions for the emperor and the zanana are on terraces along a canal by the former river bank.

"it is a garden of perfect freshness and pleasantness, so that the whole paradisical ground from one end to the other because of its lush vegetation has outshone the green sky, and its sight is presented to the eyes of the beholder as the highest paradise" 

Courtly Quarters

Building study in realtion to the 7 principles

The Taj Mahal

The Origins


Islamic architecture has encompassed a wide range of both secular and things to do with Allah like architecture styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures within the sphere of Islamic culture.

A specifically recognisable Islamic architectural style developed soon after the time of the Prophet Muhammad, developing from Roman, Egyptian, Byzantine, and Persian/Sassanid. The Indo-Islamic monuments were typical mortar-masonry works formed of dressed stones for the first time in India. The use of certain scientific and mechanical formula helped to gain greater strength and stability.

Indian architecture took new shape with the advent of Islamic rule in India towards the end of the 12th century AD. Islamic architecture soon lost its original purity and borrowed such elements from Indian architecture as courtyards surrounded by colonnades, balconies supported by brackets and decoration. Islam, on the other hand, introduced to India the dome, the true arch, geometric motifs, mosaics, and minarets. Despite fundamental differences, Indian and Islamic architecture achieved a harmonious fusion, especially in certain regional styles called the Indo-Islamic style of architecture.

The Mamluks (1206-1290)

The Mamluk Dynasty (sometimes referred as Slave Dynasty or Ghulam Dynasty) was directed into Northern India by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkic general from Central Asia. It was the first of five unrelated dynasties to rule India's Delhi Sultanate from 1206 to 1290. Aybak's tenure as a Ghurid dynasty administrator ranged between 1192 to 1206, a period during which he led invasions into the Gangetic heartland of India and established control over some of the new areas.

• Qutb Minar

• Arhai-Din-Ka Jhompra

• Chaurasi Khamba
  
  
  
• Ukha Mandir
• Sultan Ghari
• Iltutmish Mausoleum
• Shamsi Idgah
• Hansi Idgah
• Bayana Idgah
• Jami Masjid
• Atarkin-Ka- Darwaza

The Khaljis (1290-1320)

The Khaljis dynasty or Khalji was a Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin who ruled large parts of South Asia between 1290 and 1320. It was founded by Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji and became the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India. Under Ala-ud-din Khilji, the Khiljis became known for having repeatedly defended South Asia against the Mongol invasions of India. 

The Khilji rulers trace their roots to Central Asia and were of Turkic origin. They settled in what is now Qalat, Afghanistan before proceeding to Delhi in India. The name "Khilji" refers to an Afghan village or town known as Qalat-e Khilji (Fort of Khilji). They were treated by others as ethnic Afghans due to their adoption of some Afghan habits and customs. As a result of this, the dynasty is referred to as a Turko-Afghan.

• Alai Darwaza 

• Siri Citadel
• Tohfewala Gumbad
  
• Jamaat Khana
• Ukha Mosque
• Daulatabad : Great Mosque

The Tughluqs (1320-1413)

The Tughlaq dynasty , also called "Tughraq", was a Muslim dynasty of Turkic origin which established a Delhi sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the throne under the title of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq.

• Ghiyas Al- Din Mausoleum
  
  
  
  
  
• Bijay Mandal
  
• Kota Firuz Shah
• Firauzabad: Jami Masjid
• Begampuri Mosque
• Khirki and Kalan Mosque
• Telangani Mausoleum
• Lat-ki Mosque and Fatehabad Idgah
• Gujara Mahall
• Jahaz Kothi

The Sayid and Lodi (1414-1451 and 1451-1526)

The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate from 1414 to 1451. They succeeded the Tughlaq dynasty and ruled that sultanate until they were displaced by the Lodi dynasty. This family claimed to be Sayyids, or descendants of Muhammad. The central authority of the Delhi Sultanate had been fatally weakened by the successive invasion of Timur and his sack of Delhi in 1398. After a period of chaos, when no central authority prevailed, the Sayyids gained power at Delhi. Their 37-year period of dominance witnessed the rule of four different members of the dynasty.

Lodhi dynasty was made up of an Afghan tribe (Pashtun people) who ruled northern India from 1451 to 1526. It was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodhi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty and ended after Ibrahim Lodhi was defeated by Babur from Kabulistan in the 1526 Battle of Panipat. It was during the period of the Lodhi's that the first Portuguese Armada under Vasco da Gama landed in India.

• Sikandar Jami Masjid
• Adham Khan Mausoleum 
  
  
  
  
  
• Sikandar Lodi Mausoleum
  
  
  
  
  
• The Bara Gumbad

• Moth Mosque
• Chaurasi Gumbad

Timeline of India Islamic Architecture

Part 1: The Origins:
The Mamluks of Delhi (1206-1290)

The Khaljis (1290-1320)

The Tughluqs (1320-1413)

The Sayyid and Lodi (1414-1451 and 1451-1526)

Part 2: Provincial Styles:

The Punjab and Sind (1150-c.1550 and 1053-c.1592)

Bengal (c.1300-c.1550)

Jaunpur (1394- 1483)

Gujarat (c.1300-c.1500)

Malwa (c.1400-c.1550)

Deccan (1347-1687)

Kashmir (1346-1586)

Part 3: The Mughals

The arrival of the Mughals

The classic Mughal period I: Akbar (1556-1605)

The classic Mughal period II: Jahangir (1605-1627)

The classic Mughal period III: Shah Jahan (1628-1657)

The classic Mughal period III: Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

The final phase of Mughal architecture

The Mughal provincial style