CC-7: HISTORY OF INDIA (c.

1206-1526)
II. SULTANATE POLITICAL STRUCTURE
(D). CONSOLIDATION OF REGIONAL IDENTITIES:
REGIONAL ART, ARCHITECTURE AND LITERATURE
REGIONAL ART
Trends towards mutual understanding and integration are to be found not only
in the fields of religious beliefs and rituals, architecture and literature, but also
in the fields of fine arts, particularly music. When the Turks came to India, they
inherited the rich Arab tradition of music which had been further developed in
Iran and Central Asia. They brought with them a number of new musical
instruments, such as the rabab and sarangi, and new musical modes and
regulations. Indian music and Indian musicians at the court of the Caliphs at
Baghdad had possibly influenced the development of music there. However,
systematic contact between the two began in India under the Sultanate. We have
already referred to Amir Khusrau. Khusrau, who was given the title of nayak or
master of both the theory and practice of music, introduced many Perso-Arabic
airs (ragas), such as aiman, ghora, sanam, etc. He is credited with having
invented the sitar, though we have no evidence of it. The tabla which is also
attributed to him seems, however, to have developed during the late seventeenth
or early eighteenth century. The process of integration in the field of music
continued under Firuz. The Indian classical work Ragadarpan was translated
into Persian during this reign. Musical gatherings spread from the abodes of the
Sufis to the palaces of the nobles. Sultan Husain Sharqi, the ruler of Jaunpur,
was a great patron of music. The Sufi saint, Pir Bodhan, is supposed to have
been the second great musician of the age. Another regional kingdom where
music was highly cultivated was the kingdom of Gwalior. Raja Man Singh of
Gwalior was a great music lover. The work Man Kautuhal in which all the new
musical modes introduced by the Muslims were included, was prepared under
his aegis. We do not know at what time the musical modes in north India began
to differ from those in the south. But there is little doubt that the differentiation
was largely due to the incorporation of Perso-Arabic modes, airs and scales. A
distinctive style of music, influenced in considerable measure by Persian music,
developed in the kingdom of Kashmir.
ARCHITECTURE
Contemporary to the rule of the Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, Bengal
Jaunpur, Malwa, Gujrat saw the emergence of unique and independent
provincial styles.

Bengal Architecture

In Bengal style, there is extensive use of bricks, bamboo and wood in place of
stones. The Muslim rulers constructed here several new cities, fortresses,
palaces, free-standing victory-towers, citadels, immense land bridges and
embankments etc in this province that included present day Bangladesh and
West Bengal in India. Sikandar Shah constructed the Adina Mosque. This is the
largest and most important Muslim heritage of Bengal, These architectures were
maintained for a period of two hundred and fifty years. They created the
buildings with locally available building materials combining the regional styles
with the typical Muslim features such as domes, arches, the minaret and the
mehrab. This amalgamation resulted into a new and improved technique named
as Indo-Islamic architecture, enriched with regional building tradition in
Bengal.

Architecture of Jaunpur

Architecture of Jaunpur consists of heavy constructions, these buildings lack the

provision of minarets. Under the Sharqi monarchs, Jaunpur became an
important centre of Islamic art, architecture and learning, a university town
known as Shiraz-i-Hind after the city of Shiraz in Iran. Most of the structures of
the style were destroyed when Sikandar Lodi of Delhi reconquered Jaunpur,
leaving only 5 mosques.

The Atala Masjid (1408 AD) stands on the site of a Hindu temple by Atala
Devi. Sharqi Sultan of Jaunpur laid down foundations during the reign of Sultan
Firoz Shah II. A large number of its pillars, brackets, lintels and flat ceilings
were extracted from Hindu monuments. The mosque complex consists of a long
rectangular prayer hall that opens into a large square courtyard to the West.

The courtyard is enveloped by a two-storey veranda on the exterior that are used
by merchants and visitors. It is entered rom three domed gates facing North,
East and West. Inside, the courtyard is enveloped by a three-bay deep double-
storey colonnade on three sides. Jama mosque was constructed by Hussain Shah
Sharqi in AD 1470.

Architecture of Malwa

The area of Dhar and Mandu developed a distinct form of Islamic architecture
during the Muslim dynasty; these were inspired by the contemporary
architecture of Delhi. Initially they constructed new buildings on the ruins of
Hindu and Jain temple materials. Gradually, they developed their own style in
building art of Islamic culture.

Mandu fort is about 60 miles from Indore and is at about 2000 feet. Durbar hall,
known as the Hindola Mahal is also attributed to Hoshang Shah. The later
mausoleums, such as the tomb of Darya Khan, the Dai ka Mahal and the
Chhappan Mahal were built on the same design.

A long structural complex situated between two lakes has a curious name, the
Jahaz Mahal (ship-palace). The tomb of Hoshang Shah was built by Mahmud
Shah I and is purely built in marble.

Architecture of Gujrat

The Gujarat style can also be called local Hindustani style. Cutting of stone was
done with precision in this style. Gujarat developed the Islamic style of
architecture. When Khilji dynasty of Delhi established their Governors in this
province, they started to build their architectures for the first time.

They constructed and developed their Islamic architecture until the independent
rule of the Ahmad Shahi dynasty declined, and absorbed into the empire of the
Mughals in the 16th century. They constructed their several mosques, tombs
and other buildings with the amalgamation of Hindu culture.

Ahmedabad's Jama Mosque was constructed by Ahmad Shah in 1423 AD. The
mosque is considered as the most prominent example of Gujarat style. The
prayer room is also rectangular and covered by four domes. In its Indo-
Saracenic architecture, the mosque also contains many syncretic elements not
necessarily obvious to the viewer Some of the central domes are carved like
lotus flowers, closely related to the typical domes of Jain temple and some of
the pillars are carved with the form of a bell hanging on a chain, in reference to
the bells that often hang in Hindu temples.
Architecture of Vijayanagara

The origin of Vijayanagara can be traced back to 14-16th century. The empire
ruled South Indía, from their regal capital at Vijayanagara, on the banks of the
Tungabhadra river in modern Karnataka.

The region around Hampi had been a popular place of worship for centuries
before the Vijayanagara period with earliest records dating from 689 CE when it
was known as Pampa Tirtha after the local river God Pampa.

The fortified settlement of the South-West is known as the administrative centre

of Vijayanagara. The Kamal Palace and Hazara Rama Temple are important
from the point of view of royal architecture.

Important features of temple architecture of Vijayanagar

The temple architecture of Vijayanagara is influenced by the Dravida style. The

architecture of Vijayanagara includes-gopuram, mandap and hallways
surrounded by the large pillars.

Kalyan Mandapa was used to celebrate the marriage of the gods and goddesses.
Other Mandapa were used swing for the god and goddesses.

The dense relief design is a characteristic of Vijayanagar. The pillars are

surrounded by the idols in circular fashion. Temples also contained the idols of
local kings of queens. The temple of Tirupati contains the idol of
Krishnadevaraya and his wives.

Krishnadevaraya, one of the famous kings of the Vijayanagara empire was a

major patron of Virupaksha temple. The second is Vittala temple which is one
of the most extravagant architectural showpieces of Hampi. Its pillars a are
popularly called the musical pillars. These slender and short pilasters carved out
of the giant pillars emit musical tones when tapped. The last phase of this
school of architecture is known as Madura style. The main characteristics of the
style during this period being the elaborate mandapas of the hundred-pillared'
and 'thousand-pillared' types, the high gopurams with stucco statues on the
surface and the lone corridors.

Deccan Style of Architecture

Deccan style developed as an extension of Delhi style and Persian style to the
South of Vindhyas. The architectural splendors of Deccan like Char Minar and
Gol Gumbaz belong to this period. The religious tolerance displayed by the
Nizam Shahi, Adil Shahi and Qutb Shahi rulers is also worthy of mention.

Jama Masjid of Gulbarga is a famous example of Deccan style. The mosque is

surrounded by twelve smaller domes. The high central dome is given greater
prominence by being slightly larger and because it is placed on an arcade,
forming a square cloister that rises above the smaller domes. The elements of
Ottoman architecture can be seen in the buildings of this period.

REGIONAL LITERATURE
During this period, literary works of high quality were produced in many of the
regional languages as well. Many of these languages, such as Hindi, Bengali
and Marathi, trace their origin back to the eighth century or so. Some others,
such as Tamil, were much older. The rise to maturity of many of these
languages and their use as means for literary works may be considered a
striking feature of the medieval period. There were many reasons for this.
Perhaps, with the loss of prestige by the brahmanas, Sanskrit also lost some of
its prestige. The use of the common language by the Bhakti saints was,
undoubtedly, an important factor in the rise of these languages. In fact, in many
parts of the country, these early saints fashioned these languages for literary
purposes. It seems that in many regional kingdoms of the pre-Turkish period,
regional languages, such as Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, etc. were used for
administrative purposes, in addition to Sanskrit. This must have been continued
under the Turkish rule, for we hear of Hindi-knowing revenue accountants
appointed in the Delhi Sultanate. Later, when the Delhi Sultanate broke up,
local languages, in addition to Persian, continued to be used for administrative
purpose in many of the regional kingdoms. Thus, literature in Telugu developed
in south India under the patronage of the Vijayanagara rulers. Marathi was one
of the administrative languages in the Bahmani kingdom, and later, at the court
of Bijapur. In course of time, when these languages had reached a certain stage
of development, some of the Muslim kings gave them patronage for literary
purposes also. For example, Nusrat Shah of Bengal had the Mahabharata and
the Ramayana translated into Bengali. Maladhar Basu also translated the
Bhagavata into Bengali under his patronage. In Jaunpur, the Sufi saints, such as
Malik Muhammad Jaisi, wrote in Hindi and put forward Sufi concepts in a form
which could be easily understood by the common man. They popularised many
Persian forms, such as the masnavi.
Urdu developed due to the interaction of Persian and Indian languages in the
military camps of Alauddin Khilji. The Deccan was the cradle of Urdu and the
language flourished for the first time in the kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda.
The earliest available work in Deccani Urdu is a mystical prose treatise, Mira-
jul-Ashiqin by Saint Gesu Daraz (early 15th century). The Hindi language
originated between 7th and 10th centuries. The First stage of Hindi literature is
known as Adi kala and was mainly Bardic in nature. Amir Khasrau was one of
the major poets of the Adi kala. The Second stage was known as Bhakti kala
and was the richest period in the history of Hindi literature. Saint-poets like
Kabir, Guru Nanak, Tulsidas made major contribution to the literary of this
language during this period. As far the Bengali language is concerned, its first
phase developed between 10th -12th centuries and are mostly evident from the
folk songs. The second stage began with the Muslim conquest of Bengal in the
13th century and continued up to the 17th century.

NOTES AND REFERANCE

Puri, Gopal k., Indian History