Cultural Development During Mughal Era

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE MUGHAL ERA

• Mughal period can be called a second classical age in northern India

• In this cultural development, Indian traditions were amalgamated with Turko-Iranian culture

1. ARCHITECTURE:-

• They built magnificent monuments & also laid out many formal gardens with running water in neighborhood of Agra & Lahore

• Some other Mughal gardens, Nishat Bagh – Kashmir; Shalimar – Lahore; Pinjore Garden – Punjab

• Akbar built famous red fort at Agra, fort palace complex at Fatehpur Sikri

• Architecture is excellent blending of Persian (half dome portal), central Asian (glazed blue tiles at entrances)

• Mosque & Buland Darwaza in Gujarat commorates Akbar’s victory

• Humayun’s tomb built by Akbar is different from earlier

• Pietra Dura – buildings entirely of marble & decorating walls with flora designs made of semi-precious stones
• Under Shah Jahan mosque building reached its climax. The two most noteworthy were Moti Masjid in Agra fort built entirely with marble, Jama Masjid at Delhi
• By the time of Aurangzeb’s reign a decline had set in & Mughal architecture was no longer impressive

• Govind Dev Temple at Brindavan is made of red sandstone & has this mixed style of Mughal architecture as well as The Golden Temple at Amritsar

 

2. PAINTING:-

• Mughals introduced new themes depicting the court, battle scenes & the chase & added new colors & forms

• Akbar organized painting in one of imperial establishments (karkhanas)
• Jaswant & Dasawan were two of famous painters at Akbar’s court

• Indian themes & Indian landscapes became very popular, helping to free the school from Persian influence

• Indian colors like  peacock blue, Indian red, began to be used

• Above all, the somewhat flat effect of Persian style began to be replaced by roundness of Indian brush, giving the pictures a three-dimensional effect

• European painting was introduced at Akbar’s court by Portuguese priests

• Jahangir patronized Bishan Das, Murad, Mansur & Bahzad

• Aurangzeb’s lack of interest forced the artists to disperse to various provincial capitals where local governors employed them

• Deccan school of painting was encouraged by Bijapuri kings

3. MUSIC:-

• Raga Darbari, believed to be Tansen’s special composition for Akbar
• Hindustani school of music had, by now, taken many features from Persian music

• Jahangir & Shah Jahan continued patronizing musicians

• Aurangzeb in his later years banished singing from his court

• New styles of singing Khayal & Thumari became popular

4. LITERATURE:-

• Abul Fazal set a style of prose writing which was emulated for many generations

• Leading poet, Faizi Utbi together with Naziri

• Medieval Hindi in Brij form was also patronized by Mughal emperors & Hindu rulers

• Abdur Rahim, wrote in Hindi & his dohas are still recited

• Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas
• Surdas – Sur Sagar

• Delhi & Lucknow were centers of Urdu poetry