Page 71 - SST Class 07

Land given to a temple was called ‘devadana’. at the time. However, the fusion of indigenous
The tax collected from this land was used for the and Muslim customs and styles under the Delhi
upkeep of the temple and to maintain the people Sultanate gave rise to the beginnings of Indo-
who worked there—priests, dancers, musicians, Islamic art and architecture, which reached its
garland makers, idol makers, cooks and many zenith in later years under the Mughal emperors.
other. Temples also participated in inland and The Sultanate’s greatest contribution to the fine
overseas trade. The priests taught children in arts of India lies in their advances in architecture.
temple courtyards. Thus, temples during the The Qutub Minar
Chola period were the hub of social, economic
Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, the governor of Delhi and
and cultural life. subsequently, the first Sultan of the Delhi

THE SULTANATE PERIOD Sultanate (ruling from 1206–1210 CE), started
The Turks and the Afghans introduced new styles the construction of the Qutub Minar in 1192,
and techniques of architecture. When fused with which was completed after his death by his
the existing Indian styles, they gave birth to the successor Iltutmish. Made of fluted red sandstone
Indo-Islamic style of Architecture. Palaces, and marble, the Qutub Minar is the tallest mina-
mosques, forts and towers were constructed in ret in India, standing at a height of 238 feet. It
this new style. comprises several superposed flanged and
Features : The two main features used in the cylindrical shafts, separated by balconies sup-
buildings of this period were the arch (later ported by Muqarnas corbels (an architectural
refined and called the true arch) and the dome. ornamentation reminiscent of stalactites employed
There was no longer the need to construct pillars
to support the roof. Starting with half-domes,
there was a shift towards full domes. Some
buildings also had minarets.
Most early structures were built of red sandstone.
Later, monuments began to be made of stone
covered with plaster. They were decorated with
floral and geometric designs. Verses from the
holy Quran were also engraved on some of the
structures. In many structures, motifs such as
swastika, lotus and bell were used. Qutub Minar
The Slave and Khilji Sultans had more money to
spend on architecture. Therefore, their buildings
have more decorative carvings on them than
those of the Tughluqs, Sayyids and Lodis.

Monuments : The early rulers of the Delhi
Sultanate are often viewed as iconoclastic pillag-
ers, best known for their indiscriminate destruc-
tion of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples. They
enacted Islamic prohibitions of anthropomorphic
representations in art, which had been common
Alai Darwaza

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