The History of the Pre-Mughal Period:


During Muslim rule in Bengal, many new cities were built and adorned with palaces, forts, monumental gateways, free-standing victory-towers, mosques, mausoleums, roads and bridges, the remains of which are scattered over all the country. The ruins of their early capital at Gaud and Pandua, which stretch along what was once the high bank of the Ganges for about 20 miles in unbroken continuity, are now half-buried in lush vegetation. In its vastness and splendour, the city ruins are unparalled by any other ancient city site in the sub-continent. Amongst these picturesque remains, at least three great cities have been traced. The earliest identified as Lakhnawti - the capital of the two pre-Muslim dynasties of the Palas and the Senas - and the later ones, Gaud and Pandua identified as the two successive capital cities of the pre-Mughal rulers. The city ruins are now largely located in the present Malda district of West Bengal, India, but a small portion is located in the Rajshahi District of Bangladesh.

When the Muslims conquered India, they were already possessed of a highly developed architecture of their own, which is characterized by such distinguishing features as the arch, the dome, the minaret and the mihrab, - features common everywhere in the Islamic world-and fundamentally based upon the building traditions of Western and Central Asia. However, wherever they have re-established themselves, they have become dependent largely upon the locally available building materials, the craftsmen and the prevailing social and climatic conditions of the region. These regional factors invariably conditioned the evolution of regional styles, varying from country to country. The Muslims revolutionalized architecture in Bengal by introducing new and improved techniques and certain common architectural features, generally associated with Islam. However these features were considerably enriched with regional building tradition. This architecture may be classified broadly under two main phases: tThe Pre-Mughal and the Mughal.

The first phase begins with the conquest of Bengal in 1204 and continues throughout the first three centuries of semi-independent and independent existence, until 1575, when Bengal was least exposed to cultural infiltration from the West. At the beginning of the second phase Bengal was subjugated and made a Province of the Mughal empire for about two centuries until Muslim rule was terminated in 1757 by the British. This phase is characterised by the development of a uniform imperial Mughal style in the Province. In the first phase the country was initially governed by the Mamluks of Bengal under the Delhi Sultans and, later, independently by the three famous houses of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty, the Hussain Shahi dynasty and the Afghan Karrams.

The Mamluk period was an age for conquest and consolidation of the newly acquired territories and was characterised in their architecture by a rough and ready construction, similar to the buildings in and around Delhi and Ajmeer where the materials as well as many features of Hindu architecture were being freely appropriated. Buildings constructed in and around Gaud, Pandua, Devkot, Triveni, Satgaon and Chhota Pandua, in West Bengal (India) during the initial period, have all virtually disappeared with the passage of time. Vestiges of the few surviving monuments are now mostly located in the Hoogly district of West Bengal (India), consisting of the sepulchre and mosque of Zafar Khan Ghazi, (1298-1313). the conqueror of the region; a round tapering victory tower of about l00' high at Chhota Pandua; and the adjacent Ban Masjid, measuring 231' x 42', which is roofed over with sixty three squat domes.

Strong regional elements were manifested in the architecture of the two centuries of isolation under the independent Sultans of Bengal. These were dictated by the peculiar geography and climate of the region as well as the readily available and cheap alluvial clay - an excellent medium for plastic art - which made brickwork the dominant element in building construction over many centuries. Occasionally black basalt stone, quarried from the distant Rajmahal hills in Bihar, was used as a secondary material in places near the quarry, where transportation of this costlier material was more easy and economical. The indigenous elements, fostered during the Sultanate period, are reflected in a luxuriant richness, drawn from nature, for the decoration on the buildings and the striking curvilinear roof-form, which has been similarly derived from the common thatched hut of rural Bengal and the copious monsoon rains have dictated the adoption of a covered domed-roof rather than an open court.

With the establishment of an independent Sultanate, and the restoration of comparative peace by the house of Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah in 1342, the country entered into a period of great building activity. The son of Ilays Shah, Sultan Sikandar Shah,who ruled between 1358 and 1389, transferred his capital from old Lakhnawti, or Gaud, to a site about 17 miles north known as Pandua where, in 1364, he laid the foundation of a stately congregational mosque which became the focal point in the city. The Adina Mosque, as it is commonly known today, was the most ambitious monument of black stone ever raised in eastern India by any Muslim ruler.

In the early 15th Century a definite building style, best described as the regional Islamic style, emerged. The earliest surviving specimen of this style is the Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua (in India) which was built over the mortal remains of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. He was a son of Raja Ganesha who ruled between 1414 and 1431. The tomb derives its curious name because it is believed that it cost one Iakh (100,000) of rupees to build. The monument assumes great importance in the evolution of an architectural style in Bengal as it establishes, for the first time, a typical Bengali style which served as a proto-type for most of the subsequent architecture of the region. Although it is predominantly a brick structure, ornamental black-stone has been used for relief of monotony. It has four octagonal corner turrets and its massive walls are richly embellished with terracotta floral scrolls, whilst its cornice and battlements are conspicuously curved. The ornamental effect of the mausoleum is further enhanced by the application of glazed coloured tiles which were used on this building for the first time in Bengal. Having embarked on this distinct indigenous style of building, the independent Sultans continued to follow the design of the Eklakhi Tomb during the following century, with minor modifications and elaborations according to their functional needs. The Dakhil Darwaza in India, which is believed to have been built by Sultan Barbak Shah, in 1465 as a triumphal arch facing the citadel of Gaud, stands apart from the rest. It is distinguished by its fine brickwork and immense proportions. The monument is an outstanding landmark of architectural achievement in Bengal and a remarkable testimony to the skills of its builder.

Between 1487 and 1493, the few years of Abyssinian Habshi rule, there were no mentionable cultural progress in the country. Eventually Sayyed Hussain Shah, an Arab nobleman, succeeded in establishing a new and enlightened dynasty in 1493. This ushered in another period of renewed activity in all cultural fields.

The latter period, under Sayyed Hussain Shah, lasted about half a century. It was indeed a golden era of peace and prosperity, during which time a large number of splendid monuments were raised throughout their kingdom. Only a select few of the surviving monuments are briefly described to give a proper appreciation of the pre-Mughal evolution of building art in its ripest form. During this period, styles using brick alone as well as a combination of brick and stone following the earlier style, continued side by side. At the same time details of ornamentation reached a greater refinement; brilliant multi-coloured glazed tiles decorated the buildings, and often the domes of some important mosques, such as the two Golden Mosques at Gaud, were gilded with real gold.

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