Provincial architecture: Gujarat

Gujarat

• Western Indian Architecture came into being in beginning of the 14th century is almost exclusively confined to Gujarat.
• The founders of Gujarat style of Indo-Islamic architecture were in fact the governors of the Khalji Sultans of Delhi. selfstudyhistory.com

Three phases of the Gujarat style :

• First Phase (till first half of the 14th century):
  • It was marked by the demolition of the Hindu temples and their reconversion into Muslim buildings.
• Second Phase (first half of the 15th century):
  • It shows signs of hesitant maturity of a distinctive style.
  • Ahmad Shah I (1411-42):
    • He was a great builder, and beautified the town with many magnificent palaces and bazars, mosques and madrasas.
    • He drew on the rich architectural tradition of the Jains of Gujarat to devise a style of building which was markedly different from Delhi.
    • Some of its features are:
      • slender turrets,
      • exquisite stone-carving, and
      • highly ornate brackets.
    • Example of architecture:
      • Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad:
        • in 1424 during the reign of Ahmed Shah I.
        • situated outside Bhadra Fort
        • 
      • Tin Darwaza:
        • Completed in 1415.
        • gateway on the east of Bhadra Fort, Ahmedabad.
        • 
  • Mahmud Begarha (1459 to 1511):
    • The sultan founded at the foot of the Girnar hill a new town called Mustafabad (now Junagadh). He built many lofty buildings there and asked all his nobles to do the same. Thus, it became the second capital of Gujarat.
    • Mahmud constructed a new town called Muhammadabad near Champaner. He laid out many gardens there and made it his principal place of residence.
    • Buildings in Champner:
      • Jama Masjid:
        • It has a covered courtyard, and many Jain and Hindu principles of architecture have been used in it.
        • 
      • The stone work in the other buildings constructed during this period is so fine that it can only be compared to the work of goldsmiths.
    •  Sarkhej Roza
      • He is also credit with the completion of Sarkhej Roza.
      • Sarkhej Roza is a mosque and tomb complex located near Ahmedabad.
      • 
• Third Phase (latter half of the 15th century)
  • Gujarat style emerges in its own magnificent form.
• The Gujarat style of architecture is one of the most indigenous in character.
• In some of the finer examples of this style considerable portions of the buildings are in fact adaptations from either Hindu or Jain temples.
• Structure of a temple is fitted into the sanctuary of the mosque in the form of a central compartment.
  • Almost all the mosques from the second and third phase are composed in this manner.

Central Indian architecture :  

• The development of Indo-Islamic architecture remained confined within the Malwa region.
• (More about Malwa architecture given in separate chapter)