The History of Architecture in India

This is the first modern monograph to draw together all the strands of India's architectural history - from the Vedic and native traditions of early India, through Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and secular architecture, to the eclecticism of the British Raj. An understanding of Indian history and religion is the basis for the understanding of the complex pattern of relationships in the evolution of its architecture. Therefore, the background material covers major invasions, migrations, dynastic conflicts and cultural and commercial connections, the main religious developments and their significance and repercussions, and external architectural precedents. While avoiding the usual misleading division of the subject into "Buddhist and Hindu" and "Islamic" parts the importance of religion, symbolism and myth to the development of characteristic Indian architectural forms is fully explained. Hundred of photographs, engravings, and plans and elevations produced to a set of uniform scales are closely integrated with the text, resulting in a book which expresses the richness and complexity of Indian architecture. Christopher Tadgell is Senior Lecturer in Architectural History at the Canterbury School of Architecture. Kent Institute of Art and Design. His main research field is French classical architecture, but the present volume is the outcome of a life-long fascination with India. In 1985 he was Morgan Professor of Architectural Design at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, where he taught Indian and French architectural history, and in 1987 a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. He has lectured widely in Britain and America on French and Indian subjects. Among his publications are: Ange-Jacques Gabriel and France - Baroque and Rococo Architecture and Decoration. He is currently working on a history of architecture in France for ADT Press and a survey of the classical theory of architecture in France, culminating in the work of Jacques-Francois Blondel.

Table of Contents:
Prologue - early India: India; the Indus valley civilization; the Vedic and native traditions; religious developments and the formula for sacred building; social developments; village, town and fort. Part 1 Fourth century BC - fifth century AD; introduction - religious developments; the pattern of patronage; the architectural background; Mauryan foundations; stupa and monastery - Hinayana works under the Mauryas' successors; innovations in the north; innovations in the south. Part 2 Fifth century - thirteenth century; introduction - religious developments; Hindu worship and the formula for sacred building; the pattern of patronage; the temple - early structures in Gupta domains; Mahayan, Hindu and Jaina excavations; structures of the early Chalukyas and their neighbours; regional variants; excavations of the Pallavas and their contemporaries; the Pallava rathas and structural temples; structures of the restored Chalukyas; the Cholas, the Pandayas and their contemporaries in the south; post-Gupta developments in the north; the Pratiharas; the Solankis; the Chandellas and their neighbours; the Paramaras and their neighbours; Orissa; the later Chalukyas and Hoysalas; the fort. Part 3 Thirteenth century - eighteenth century: introduction - the pattern of patronage; Islam and Muslim building; mosque, tomb and fort - the Delhi sultans; the Sultanate of Gujarat; the Sultanate of Bengal; the Sultanate of Kashmir; the Sharqi Sultans; the Sultanate of Malwa; the Deccani Sultanate - Gulbarga and Bidar; Deccani Sultanates - Golconda and Bijapur; temple and palace - Vijayanagar and its successors; Rajputs; Mughal achievement - the great palace; Imperial mosque and tomb. Part 4 Late India - sectarian division and colonial rivalry; the demise of the mughals and British India; the seats of secessionist powers; church and colonial state.