Traces the development and spread of architecture under the Mughal emperors who ruled the Indian subcontinent from the early-16th to the mid-19th centuries. The book considers the entire scope of architecture built under the auspices of the imperial Mughals and their subjects.

Illustrations: Numerous B/w Illustrations Description: The Mughals ruled a united north India for over three centuries, but the roots of the glorious monuments they built are found in earlier provincial styles of architecture. In this richly illustrated work, Dr. Elizabeth Schotten Merklinger presents the first comprehensive study of the architecture of the Sultanate period. During the pre-Mughal centuries provincial Islamic styles of architecture developed, some of great importance and originality, each a spontaneous movement arising from its respective rulers and the desire to express particular aesthetic ideals. Many factors influenced these regional styles, the most important being the indigenous arts prevailing in the region prior to Islam, the technical ability of the craftsmen, the climatic conditions and the strength of the bond each province had with the capital, Delhi. In Sultanate Architecture of Pre-Mughal India Elizabeth Schotten Merklinger traces the architectural development of each Sultanate. She shows that each provincial style is a synthesis between opposing spiritual and aesthetic concepts faced by the early Muslims in India. Nowhere else in the Islamic world was the clash of values more pronounced. But it is precisely these counteracting forces which released the enormous energy that resulted in the construction of the splendid monuments of the Mughal age. This book evolved out of a series of lectures on Indian Islamic architecture given at the Oriental Institute, Oxford, in 1991. There has been no update on Indo-Islamic architecture since the definitive work, Percy Brown, Indian Architecture: Islamic Period, Bombay, 1956, reprint, 1968.

The articles by John Burton-Page on Indian Islamic architecture assembled in this volume give an historical overview of the subject, ranging from the mosques and tombs erected by the Delhi sultans in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, to the great monuments of the Mughals in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture is the most comprehensive reference work in this complex and diverse area of art history. Built on the acclaimed scholarship of the Grove Dictionary of Art, this work offers over 1,600 up-to-date entries on Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Central and South Asia, Africa, and Europe and spans over a thousand years of history. Recent changes in Islamic art in areas such as Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq are elucidated here by distinguished scholars. Entries provide in-depth art historical and cultural information about dynasties, art forms, artists, architecture, rulers, monuments, archaeological sites and stylistic developments. In addition, over 500 illustrations of sculpture, mosaic, painting, ceramics, architecture, metalwork and calligraphy illuminate the rich artistic tradition of the Islamic world. With the fundamental understanding that Islamic art is not limited to a particular region, or to a defined period of time, The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture offers pathways into Islamic culture through its art.

Canada has seen the study of Islamic art and archeology grow steadily over the last five decades, with growth in research and teaching across numerous Canadian universities as well as important collections of Islamic art and archaeological materials, most notably at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Aga Khan Museum. Made for the Eye of One Who Sees uncovers the contributions of scholars and museum curators at Canadian institutions to current scholarship on Islamic art. Employing a wide range of approaches and theoretical perspectives, contributors cover topics from across the Islamic world dating from the eighth century to the present. Subjects include the iconography of architectural design and decoration, the role of Qur’anic inscriptions, the representation of symbolic animals in sculpture, and the interpretation of Persian manuscript painting. The book also juxtaposes modern and contemporary worlds, providing insightful reflections on the early history of the Islamic collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, Matisse’s creative encounter with Byzantine and Islamic visual culture, and the ongoing dialogue between new media and the traditional concepts underpinning Islamic art. Bringing together recent scholarship on Islamic art, architecture, and archaeology, Made for the Eye of One Who Sees provides an overview of the important contributions Canada is making to this rich and evolving field of study.

The two-volume Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture bridges the gap between monograph and survey text by providing a new level of access and interpretation to Islamic art. The more than 50 newly commissioned essays revisit canonical topics, and include original approaches and scholarship on neglected aspects of the field. This two-volume Companion showcases more than 50 specially commissioned essays and an introduction that survey Islamic art and architecture in all its traditional grandeur Essays are organized according to a new chronological-geographical paradigm that remaps the unprecedented expansion of the field and reflects the nuances of major artistic and political developments during the 1400-year span The Companion represents recent developments in the field, and encourages future horizons by commissioning innovative essays that provide fresh perspectives on canonical subjects, such as early Islamic art, sacred spaces, palaces, urbanism, ornament, arts of the book, and the portable arts while introducing others that have been previously neglected, including unexplored geographies and periods, transregional connectivities, talismans and magic, consumption and networks of portability, museums and collecting, and contemporary art worlds; the essays entail strong comparative and historiographic dimensions The volumes are accompanied by a map, and each subsection is preceded by a brief outline of the main cultural and historical developments during the period in question The volumes include periods and regions typically excluded from survey books including modern and contemporary art-architecture; China, Indonesia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sicily, the New World (Americas)

This interdisciplinary volume addresses the history, literature and material culture of peoples of Turkish origins in India over the eleventh to eighteenth centuries. Although many ruling dynasties and members of the elite in this period claimed Turkish descent, this aspect of their identity has seldom received much scholarly attention. The discussion is enriched by a focus on connections and comparisons with other parts of the broader Turko-Persian world, especially Anatolia. Although discussions of Turkish-Muslim rulers in India take account of their Central Asian origins and connections, links with Anatolia, stretching back to the medieval period, were also important in the formation of Turkish society and culture in India, and have been much less explored in the literature. The volume contains contributions by some of the leading scholars in the field.

Between the 14th and the 17th century, the Deccan plateau of south-central India was home to a series of important and highly cultured Muslim courts. Subtly blending elements from Iran, West Asia, southern India, and northern India, the arts produced under these sultanates are markedly different from those of the rest of India and especially from those produced under Mughal patronage. This publication, a result of a 2008 symposium held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, investigates the arts of Deccan and the unique output in the fields of painting, literature, architecture, arms, textiles, and carpet.

This volume brings together thirteen case studies devoted to the establishment, growth, and demise of holy places in Muslim societies, thereby providing a global look on Muslim engagement with the emplacement of the holy. Combining research by historians, art historians, archaeologists, and historians of religion, the volume bridges different approaches to the study of the concept of “holiness” in Muslim societies. It addresses a wide range of geographical regions, from Indonesia and India to Morocco and Senegal, highlighting the strategies implemented in the making and unmaking of holy places in Muslim lands. Contributors: David N. Edwards, Claus-Peter Haase, Beatrice Hendrich, Sara Kuehn, Zacharie Mochtari de Pierrepont, Sara Mondini, Harry Munt, Luca Patrizi, George Quinn, Eric Ross, Ruggero Vimercati Sanseverino, Ethel Sara Wolper.