PRELUDE

For many centuries and even eras, India has experienced many architectural styles and changes. From caves, temples and mosques to palaces and stupas, India boasts an architectural diversity like no other country in the world. This incredibly rich heritage has developed over nearly 4000 years, during which time India absorbed many different political, religious and artistic influences.

Taking a glance through the past history of India’s architecture, it all starts with the India’s very earliest towns that were build in the Indus Valley, where one of the world’s oldest and most advanced urban civilizations flourished between 2700 and 1700 BCE. Following which is the early Indian architecture that lasted from 273 BCE to the start of the common Era. This era brought us the Mauryan dynasty followed by the Shunga dynasty, the Kushan dynasty after which the rock-cut architecture was in its peak throughout the nation.

During the 1st to the 8th centuries CE the Indian classic art and architecture emerged, which was the start of the common era. This is when Indian art underwent changes that conditioned all its future evolution. Then from 8th to 16th centuries the influence of medieval art and architecture conquered all over India. At the end of the 8th century a number of regional styles emerged in Indian art, each with a strong character of its own. In south India, architecture thrived with the creation of Hindu Kingdoms which comprises of The Pallavas (7th to 8th century), The Cholas (around 10th century), The Pandayas, The Western Gangas (10th century), The Hoysalas (10th to 14th century), The Vijayanagars (1336 – 1565), The Nayaks (16th to 18th century), The Solanki dynasty (960 to 1243), The Eastern Gangas (1028 – 1434), The Chandelas (9th to 13th century).

After so many centuries, India became a target for the Muslim powers around the 10th And 11th centuries which lead to the start of Islamic (12th – 16th century) and Mughal architecture (16th – 18th century). Muslim rulers in India were great builders, but until 16th century they restricted themselves to transforming Hindu and Jain temples into Mosques. As a result, Indo-Islamic architectural idioms emerged. Then after the victory of Babur in 1526, the Mughals established their rule in India. The Mughal style in India is a blend of Islamic, Persian and Indian idioms that took shape during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

The arrival of the European powers started a new chapter in Indian architecture. Under European colonial rule, architecture became an emblem of power, designed to endorse the occupying power. Numerous European countries invaded India and created architectural styles reflective of their ancestral and adopted homes. The European colonizers created architecture that symbolized their mission of conquest, dedicated to the state or religion. The British, French, Dutch and the Portuguese were the main European powers that colonized parts of India.