Islamic Influences
in Indian Art & Architecture
1. Persian Sufi Art &
Architecture
Within a few centuries after the death of the prophet Muhammad, the
center of Islamic power had shifted from Arabia to Persia (roughly
corresponding to the present day regions of Iran but including parts of
Iraq & Turkey) with the capital of the Muslim empire located in
Baghdad. Thus Persian culture & language became an integral part of
Islamic civilization, influencing both the developing system of Islamic
law and the spiritual movements led by Sufi masters. One of the most
famous of such masters was the twelfth century Jalaluddin Rumi,
whose worship of God through whirling dance has become perhaps the
most vivid symbol of Persian Sufi Islam. This first section presents a
few images of the shrine that grew up around Rumi’s shrine in Konya
(in present day Turkey), which reflect the much broader trends and
patterns of art & architecture inspired by Persian Sufi Islam.
Outside of Rumi’s Shrine
Rumi’s tomb & decorative surroudings
domed ceiling
over the tomb
2. Mughal Art & Architecture
In line with the points made in the introduction to the previous section,
the Muslim generals who began increasingly to claim territory in the
Indian subcontinent in the eleventh and twelfth centuries were products
of Persian Islam. When the first major Islamic state was established
with its capital at Delhi in 1206 CE, the political stability of the
Persian empire was in decline; thus many Persian Muslims (including
Sufis) began to migrate to North Indian, bringing with them the art,
literary styles, and architecture of their homeland. This Persian
influence continued with the Mughal dynasty established by Babar in
the sixteenth century, by which time Indian artists and builders had
developed distinctive variations on earlier Persian forms. The
buildings and paintings in this section show examples of the ongoing
traditions of Islamic art & architecture, particularly during and after the
renaissance sponsored by the third Mughal emperor Akbar.
Akbar’s audience hall at Fatehpur (late 16th CE)
Akbar’s tomb (finished 1613)
Dome inside Akbar’s tomb
Court of Emperor
Akbar (1566-1605)
Muslim
Pilgrim &
Brahman
(1597-8 CE
manuscript)
Mughal emperor with visiting Persian Shah (early 17th CE)
Portrait of a Sufi
(early 17th CE)
3. Hindu & Buddhist Icons
Developments in Islamic art & architecture were preceded by over a thousand
years of intense artistic activity on the part of traditions indigenous to India: i.e.,
Buddhists, Vaishnavates, Shaivites, & Jains. It is important, then, to look briefly at
a few examples of the way such art forms contrasted with the immigrant art &
culture of Islam, which almost without exception avoided depicting divine
power(s) in human form. Non-Muslim traditions, on the other hand, dedicated
significant artistic talent and material resources toward depicting various gods in
human form, often as coupled pairs that represented the dynamic relationship
between a particular divine entity and its power. Such indigenous artists,
furthermore, explored without restraint the way that variations on the human form
could be used as symbols of divine power: many deities, for example, were
portrayed with multiple eyes, heads, limbs, & even animal forms. This section
presents a few striking examples of the way major Hindu & Buddhist deities were
portrayed using icons. The Hindu icons were made during the early period of
Muslim rule over North India, under the patronage of one of several Hindu
kingdoms of South India that managed to preserve their independence. The
Buddhist icons are later, from Tibet & Nepal, but reflect earlier styles of north
Indian Buddhists in the regions of Bengal & Bihar.
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Vishnu
(11th CE)
& Krishna
(12th CE)
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Brahma & Brahmani
(11th & 9th CE)
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Shiva & his consort (12th-13th CE)
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stone
Ganesha
(9th CE)
Thousand-Armed
Avalokiteshvara
(Tibetan
Vajrayana,
18th CE)
Avalokiteshvara as “Mother of Planets” (17th CE?)
Wrathful Avalokiteshvara (w/local deities)
Nepalese Mandala w/Goddess
(part of pilgrim’s box, 17th-18th CE)