CHAPTER

24 Rulers and Buildings

Figure 24.1 shows the first balcony of Between the eighth and the eighteenth
the Qutb Minar. Qutbuddin Aybak had centuries kings and their officers built
constructed this around 1199 AD. Notice two kinds of structures: the first were
the pattern created under the balcony by forts, palaces and tombs – safe, protected
the small arches and geometrical designs. and grandiose places of rest in this world
Can you find two bands of inscriptions and the second were structures meant for
under the balcony? These are in Arabic. public activity including temples,
Notice that the surface of the minar is mosques, tanks, wells, caravan serais and
curved and angular. Placing an inscription bazaars. Kings were expected to care for
on such a surface requires great their subjects, and by making structures
precision. Only the most skilled for their use and comfort, rulers hoped
craftspersons could perform this task. to win their praise. Construction activity
Remember that very few buildings were was also carried out by others, including
made of stone or brick 800 years ago. merchants. They built temples, mosques
What would have been the impact of a and wells. However, domestic
building like the Qutb Minar on observers architecture – large mansions (havelis)
in the thirteenth century? of merchants – has survived only from
the eighteenth century.

Fig 24.1 Figure 24.1: Qutb

Minar is five storeys
high. The band of
inscriptions you see
are under its first
balcony. The first
floor was
constructed by
Qutbuddin Aybak
and the rest by
Iltutmish around
1229. Over the
years it was
damaged by
lightning and
earthquakes and
repaired by later
kings.
 Fig 24.2b Corbelled
technique used in the
Fig 24.2a Screen in the Quwaat al-Islam construction of an arch.
mosque, Delhi.
This way of supporting the roofs
Engineering Skills and required placing pillars near each
Construction other and large open halls could not
Monuments provide an insight into the be built. Can you figure out why?
technologies used for construction. Take
something like a roof for example. We can Temple Construction in the Early
make this by placing wooden beams or a Eleventh Century
slab of stone across four walls. But the task The Kandariya Mahadeva temple
becomes difficult if we want to make a dedicated to Shiva was constructed in
large room with an elaborate 999 AD by King Dhangadeva.
superstructure. This requires more
Fig. 24.3b is the plan of the temple of
sophisticated skills.
the Chandela dynasty. An ornamented
Between the seventh and tenth centuries gateway led to an entrance, and the main
architects started adding more rooms, hall (mahamandapa) where dances were
doors and windows to buildings. Roofs, performed. The image of the chief deity was
doors and windows were still made by kept in the main shrine
placing a horizontal beam across two (garbhagriha). This
vertical columns, a style of architecture was the place for
called “trabeate” or “corbelled”. Between ritual worship
the eighth and thirteenth centuries the where
trabeate style was used in the construction
of temples, mosques, tombs and in
buildings attached to large stepped-wells.

Visit old temples or Masjids near

your place and look for examples
of trabeate style (style in which the
roof is supported by beams placed
on pillars).
Fig 24.3a The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple of lord
206 Culture and Communication shiva.
 only the king,
his immediate
family and
p r i e s t s
gathered. The
Khajuraho Fig: 24.5a A ‘true’ arch.
c o m p l e x The ‘keystone’ at the
contained royal centre of the arch
transferred the weight of
temples where the superstructure to the
common people base of the arch.
were not
allowed entry.
The temples
were decorated Fig: 24.5b
True arch;
with elaborately
detail from
c a r v e d the Alai
Fig: 24.3b sculptures. Darwaza
The Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur (early
fourteenth
had the tallest shikhara amongst temples century).
of its time. Constructing it was not easy Quwwat al-
because there were no cranes in those days Islam
and the 90 tonne stone for the top of the mosque,
shikhara was too heavy to lift manually. Delhi.
So the architects built an inclined path to
the top of the temple, placed the boulder
on rollers and rolled it all the way to the
A new way of building
top. The path started more than four
kilometres away so that it would not be too Two technological and
steep. The path dismantled after the temple stylistic developments
was constructed. are noticeable from the
twelvth century:
(1) The weight of the
superstructure above the
doors and windows was
sometimes carried by
arches. The roof too
used this principle and
was converted into vaults
and domes. This
architectural form is
Fig: 24.4 Brijadishwara Temple at Tanjore called “arcuate”.
Free distribution by Govt. of AP. Rulers and Buildings 207
 Compare Figures 24.2a and 24.2b Do you think these new techniques
with 24.5a and 24.5b. could be used to build large halls
and tall buildings?
(2) Limestone cement was increasingly
used in construction. This was very high Building Temples, Mosques and
quality cement, which, when mixed with Tanks
stone chips hardened into concrete. This
made construction of large structures Temples and mosques were beautifully
easier and faster. Arches, domes and constructed because they were places of
limestone mortar were used extensively in worship. They were also meant to
buildings after 1190 AD. Take a look at the demonstrate the power, wealth and devotion
construction site in Figure 24.6. of the patron. Take the example of the
Rajarajeshvara temple. An inscription
Describe what the labourers are mentions that it was built by King
doing, the tools shown, and the Rajarajadeva for the worship of his god,
means of carrying stones. Rajarajeshvara. Notice how the name of the
ruler and the god are very similar. The king
took the god’s name because it was
auspicious and he wanted to appear like a
god. Through the rituals of worship in the
temple one god (Rajarajadeva) honoured
another (Rajarajeshvara).
You may recall that the Kakatiya capital
city – Orugallu was so designed as to have
the temple of Svayambhu Shiva at the
centre. This was built by the Kakatiyas to
proclaim their power and status as
independent kings.
The largest temples were all constructed
by kings. The other, lesser deities in the
temple were gods and goddesses of the
allies and subordinates of the ruler. The
temple was a miniature model of the world
ruled by the king and his allies. As they
worshipped their deities together in the
royal temples, it seemed as if they brought
the just rule of the gods on earth.
Fig: 24.6 A painting from the Akbar The kings and nobles endowed the
Nama (dated 1590-1595), showing the temples with land, gold and jewels so that
construction of water gate at Agra Fort. worship of the gods could be carried on a
208 Culture and Communication
 As each new dynasty came to
power, kings wanted to
emphasise their moral right to be
the rulers. Constructing places of
worship provided rulers with the
chance to proclaim their close
Qibla - Direction relationship with God,
towards Mecca
especially important in an age of
rapid political change. Rulers
also offered patronage to the
learned and pious, and tried to
Fig 24.7 Plan of the Jami masjid built by Shah Jahan in
transform their capitals and
his new capital at Shahjanabad 1650-1656.
cities into great cultural centres
grand scale. By 1200 AD most of these that brought fame to their rule and their
temples had become elaborate institutions realm.
which employed hundreds of artisans, It was widely believed that the rule of a
dancers, musicians, priests, administrators, just king would be an age of plenty when
servants, etc. They collected taxes from the the heavens would not withhold rain. At the
villages, lent money on interest to traders, same time, making precious water available
etc. organised fairs and markets to which by constructing tanks and reservoirs was
thronged buyers and sellers of goods. highly praised. Sultan Iltutmish won
Several mathas of Saivaite and Vaishnavite universal respect for constructing a large
sects were established around these reservoir just outside Dehli-i kuhna. It was
temples. These temples thus became called the hauz-i Sultani or the “King’s
centres of political and economic power. Reservoir”.
Kings and rulers wanted to associate their
Rulers often constructed tanks and
names with these temples by organising
reservoirs – big and small – for use by
their coronation ceremonies in the temples
ordinary people.
and by making large gifts to them and by
adding to the constructions.
Muslim Sultans and Padshahs did not
claim to be incarnations of god but Persian
court chronicles described the Sultan as the
“Shadow of God”. An inscription in the
Delhi mosque explained that God chose
Alauddin as a king because he had the
qualities of Moses and Solomon, the great
law-givers of the past. The greatest law-
giver and architect was God Himself. He
created the world out of chaos and
Fig 24.8 Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple)
introduced order and symmetry. with the holy tank in Amritsar.
Free Distribution by Govt. of A.P. Rulers and Buildings 209
 You have read about the shrines of Kalingas of Odisha; and a Kali statue from
village gods and you have also read the Palas of Bengal.
about elaborate temples and Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was a
mosques – why do you think the contemporary of Rajendra I. During his
village shrines and the temples or campaigns in the subcontinent he also
mosques are so different? attacked the temples of defeated kings and
looted their wealth and idols. Sultan
Why were Temples Destroyed? Mahmud was not a very important ruler at
Because kings built temples to that time. But by destroying temples –
demonstrate their devotion to God and their especially the one at Somnath – he tried to
power and wealth, it is not surprising that win credit as a great hero of Islam. In the
when they attacked one another ’s political culture of the Middle Ages most
kingdoms, they often targeted these rulers displayed their political might and
buildings. In the early ninth century when military success by attacking and looting
the Pandyan king Shrimara Shrivallabha the places of worship of defeated rulers.
invaded Sri Lanka and defeated the king, In what ways do you think the
Sena I (831-851), the Buddhist monk and policies of Rajendra I and Mahmud
chronicler Dhammakitti noted: “he
of Ghazni were a product of their
removed all the valuables... The statue of
times? How were the actions of the
the Buddha made entirely of gold in the
two rulers different?
Jewel Palace... and the golden images in the
various monasteries – all these he seized.” Imperial Style of the
The blow to the pride of the Sinhalese ruler
had to be avenged and the next Sinhalese Vijayanagara Period
ruler, Sena II, ordered his general to invade The city of Vijayanagara was developed
Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas. The by the Rayas to act as the imperial capital
Buddhist chronicler noted that the of entire South India. Thus they wanted it
expedition made a special effort to
find and restore the golden statue of
the Buddha.
Similarly, in the early eleventh
century, when the Chola king
Rajendra I built a Shiva temple in his
capital he filled it with prized
statues seized from defeated rulers.
A list included: a Sun-pedestal from
the Chalukyas, a Ganesha statue and
several statues of Durga; a Nandi
statue from the eastern Chalukyas;
an image of Bhairava (a form of
Shiva) and Bhairavi from the Fig: 24.9 Virupaksha Temple in Hampi.
210 Culture and Communication
 Fig 24.10a Lotus Temple. Fig 24.10b Queen’s Bath.

to reflect all the important imperial the establishment of the Vijayanagara

building traditions. They built large temples Empire. The hall in front of the main shrine
for Sri Virupaksha, Ramachandra, Krishna was built by Krishnadevaraya to mark his
and Vitthala using a style that had been accession. This was decorated with
developed by Chola and Pandya emperors delicately carved pillars. He is also
of Tamil Nadu. This included the Vimanas credited with the construction of the
and the Gopurams. The Rayas paid special eastern Gopuram.These additions meant
attention to the Gopurams which were now that the central shrine came to occupy a
built on a scale and height as never before. relatively small part of the complex.
It consisted of a first floor usually built of
The halls in the temple were used for a
solid granite and a series of upper floors
variety of purposes. Some were spaces in
made of brick and chunam. These
which the images of gods were placed to
structures of immense scale must have
witness special programmes of music,
been a mark of imperial authority that often
dance, drama etc… Others were used to
dwarfed the towers on the central shrines,
celebrate the marriages of deities. And yet
and signaled the presence of the temple
others were meant for showing the replica
from a great distance. They were also
of deities which were distinct from those
probably meant as reminders of the power
kept in the small central shrine.
of kings, able to command the resources,
techniques and skills needed to construct While the Vijayanagara rulers built these
these towering gateways. Other distinctive temples on the Tamil Nadu models, they
features include mandapas or pavilions and also built elaborate secular royal buildings
long, pillared corridors that often ran which were modelled on the style and
around the shrines within the temple techniques of the Sultanate architecture.
complex. Let us look closely at the The famous Lotus Mahal (named so by
Virupaksha temple. British visitors), Queen’s Bath and the
The Virupaksha temple was built over Elephant Stables are examples of this style.
centuries while inscriptions suggest that the You can see the use of arches and domes in
earliest shrine dated to the ninth-tenth these buildings. They were coverd with
century. It was substantially enlarged with chunam plaster and decorated with
Free Distribution by Govt. of A.P. Rulers and Buildings 211
elaborate floral and bird
designs. It appears that these
were buildings in which the
kings and their nobles lived
and displayed their wealth and
cosmopolitan taste. However,
these buildings do not just
copy the designs of the
sultanate buildings. They Fig 24.10c Elephant’s stable.
combined designs and
features of southern temples with the Why do you think emperors of
arches and domes. This can best be seen in large kingdoms tried to use
the Lotus Mahal, which was probably a different styles of buildings?
place where the kings held their meetings.
The most impressive remain of Gardens, Tombs and Forts
Vijayanagara, the Mahanavami Dibba is a Under the Mughals, architecture became
very high platform, of 55feet that is as tall more complex. Mughal emperors were
as a five floor building, and 11000 feet in personally interested in literature, art and
area. Its height was increased at least three architecture. In his autobiography, Babur
times during two hundred years. The sides described his interest in planning and laying
of the platform were covered with out formal gardens, placed within
sculptures of various kinds. It did not have rectangular walled enclosures and divided
a complete building on the top. The into four quarters by artificial channels.
platform was covered by cloth shamiana or
These gardens were called chahar
pandal supported by wooden pillars. On this
baghs, four gardens, because of their
platform the Vijayanagara kings held their
symmetrical division into quarters.
Navaratri Puja and held their Dussera court
Beginning with Akbar, some of the most
in which all their subordinate chiefs,
beautiful chahar baghs were constructed
nayakas and officers paid their tributes to
by Jahangir and Shah Jahan in Kashmir, Agra
the Emperor. Ambassadors from Europe
and Delhi (see Fig 24.11).
and other sultanates also attended the
festival. There were
s e v e r a l
important
architectural
innovations
during Akbar’s
reign. For
inspiration,
A k b a r ’s
Fig 24.10d Mahanavami dibba architects
212 Culture and Communication
 turned to the tombs of his Central Asian ancestor, Timur. The
central towering dome and the tall gateway (pishtaq) became
important aspects of Mughal architecture, first visible in
Humayun’s tomb. It was placed in the centre of a huge formal
chahar bagh and built in the tradition known as “eight
paradises” or hasht bihisht – a central hall surrounded by
eight rooms. The building was constructed with red sandstone,
edged with white marble.

Fig: 24.11
Mughal chahar baghs.

Fig: 24.12 A painting of Babur supervising workers

laying out a chahar bagh in Kabul. Note how the
intersecting channels on the path create the
Fig 24.11a The chahar characteristic chahar bagh design.
bagh in Humayun’s Tomb,
Delhi

Fig 24.11b Terraced chahar

bagh at Shalimar gardens, Fig: 24.13 Tomb of Humayun, Can you see the water
Kashmir. channels?
Free Distribution by Govt. of A.P. Rulers and Buildings 213
 It was during Shah Jahan’s reign that the
different elements of Mughal architecture
were fused together in a grand harmonious
synthesis. His reign witnessed a huge
amount of construction activity especially
in Agra and Delhi. The ceremonial halls of
public and private audience (diwan-i khas
or am) were carefully planned. These
courts were also described as chihil sutun
or forty-pillared halls, placed within a large
courtyard.
Shah Jahan’s audience halls were
specially constructed to resemble a
mosque. The pedestal on which his throne Fig: 24.15 Tajmahal in Agra.
was placed was frequently described as the
qibla, the direction faced by Muslims at resided together peaceably. The
prayer, since everybody faced that direction construction of Shah Jahan’s audience hall
when court was in session. The idea of the aimed to communicate that the king’s
king as a representative of God on earth was justice would treat the high and the low as
suggested by these architectural features. equals where all could live together in
harmony.
The connection between royal justice
and the imperial court was emphasised by In the early years of his reign, Shah
Shah Jahan in his newly constructed court Jahan’s capital was at Agra, a city where the
in the Red Fort at Delhi. Behind balcony nobility had constructed their homes on the
of the emperor’s throne were a series of banks of the river Yamuna. These were set
pietra dura inlays that depicted the in the midst of formal gardens constructed
legendary Greek god Orpheus playing the in the chahar bagh format. The chahar
flute. It was believed that Orpheus’s music bagh garden also had a variation that
could calm ferocious beasts until they historians describe as the “river-front
garden”. In this the dwelling was not located
in the middle of the chahar bagh but at its
edge, close to the bank of the river.
Shah Jahan adapted the river-front
garden in the layout of the Taj Mahal, the
grandest architectural accomplishment of
his reign. Here the white marble
Fig: 24.14 A reconstruction from a map of
mausoleum was placed on a terrace by the
the river-front garden city of Agra. Note
how the garden palaces of the nobles are edge of the river and the garden was to its
placed on both banks of the Yamuna. The south. The new city of Shahjahanabad that
Taj Mahal is on the left. he constructed in Delhi, the imperial palace
214 Culture and Communication
commanded the river-front. Only specially
favoured nobles – like his eldest son Dara
Shukoh – were given access to the river.
All others had to construct their homes in
the city away from the River Yamuna.

You are an artisan standing on a tiny

wooden platform held together by
bamboo and rope fifty metres
above the ground. You have to place
an inscription under the first
balcony of the Qutb Minar. How
would you do this?

Key words :

1. Inscriptions
2. Monuments
3. Dynasty
4. Architecture
5. Coronation Ceremony Fig: 24.16 Decorated pillars and struts holding the
extension of the roof in Jodh Bai palace in Fatehpur Sikri.
These follow architectural traditions of the Gujarat region.

Improve your learning

1. How is the “trabeate” principle of architecture different from “arcuate”?
2. What is a shikhara?
3. What are the elements of a Mughal chahar bagh garden?
4. How did a temple communicate the importance of a king?
5. An inscription in Shah Jahan’s diwan-i khas in Delhi stated: “If there is Paradise on Earth,
it is here, it is here, it is here.” How was this image created?
6. How did the Mughal court suggest that everyone – the rich and the poor, the powerful and
the weak – received justice equally from the emperor?
7. The rich and powerful construct large houses today. In what ways were the constructions
of kings and their courtiers different in the past?
8. Find out whether there is a statue of, or a memorial to a great person in your village or
town. Why was it placed there? What purpose does it serve?
9. Visit and describe any park or garden in your neighbourhood. In what ways is it similar to
or different from the gardens of the Mughals?

Free Distribution by Govt. of A.P. Rulers and Buildings 215

 ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Time should be spent in making sure that children comprehend the passages given in text. In
between questions are useful in this context. These questions are of different types that would
include the aspects reasoning, cause and effect, justification, mind mapping / concept mapping,
observation, analysis, thinking and imagination, reflection, interpreting etc. The key concepts
have been discussed subconceptwise in every chapter with examples and also given in the
form of keywords.

1) Conceptual understanding: Promoting learning of basic concepts through inquiry, discussion,

reflection giving examples through case studies interpreting, observation etc.

2) Reading the text (given), understanding and interpretation : Occasionally there are case
studies about farmers, labourers in factory, or images that are used in text which do not directly
convey the concept. Time should be given for children to grasp the main ideas, interpret images
etc.

3) Information skills: Textbooks alone cannot cover all different aspects of social studies
methodology. For example children living in an urban area can collect information regarding
their elected representatives or children living in the rural area can collect information about the
way irrigation / tank facilities are made available in their area. These information may not exactly
match with that of the textbooks and will have to be clarified. Representing the information that
they have collected through projects are also an important ability. For example if they collect
information about a tank – they may decide to draw an illustration or map etc along with written
material. Or represent the information collected through images or posters. Information skill
includes, collection of informatic tabulation / records and analysis.

4) Reflection on contemporary issues and quesioning: Students need to be encouraged to

compare their living conditions along with that of different regions or people from different
times. There may not be a single answer to these situations of comparison. Giving reasons for
certain happening process and justification of informatic and interpretative.

5) Mapping skills: There are different types of maps and pictures used in the textbook. Developing
ability related to maps as abstract representation of places are important. There are different
stages of developing this ability, from creating a map of their classroom to understanding height,
distance as represented in a map. There are illustrations, posters and photographs used in the
textbook, these images often relate to the text and are not merely for visual effect. Sometimes
there are activities like write a caption or read the images that are about architecture etc.

6) Appreciation and Sensitivity: Our country has vast diversity in terms of language, culture,
caste, religion, gender etc. Social studies does take into consideration these different aspects
and encourages students to be sensitive to these differences.

216 Academic Standards