Regional Sultanate Architecture: Gujarat, Malwa, and the Bahmani Deccan

In 1573, an East African soldier named Sidi Saiyyed built one last mosque in Ahmedabad. The Gujarat Sultanate he served was collapsing that same year, under Akbar’s advancing Mughal army. Its carved “tree of life” screen is still considered one of the finest stone lattice works in India, a sultanate’s closing statement carved in sandstone. That kind of local, distinctive achievement was the rule, not the exception. As the Delhi Sultanate weakened, regional sultanates across India developed their own distinct architectural styles. Each blended Islamic building traditions with local craftsmanship in different ways, producing strikingly different results depending on the region’s existing artistic heritage.

Must Know

The Sidi Saiyyed Jali

• Jali WorkThe Gujarat Sultanate is especially known for its intricate stone jali (perforated screen) work. Its most famous example is the Sidi Saiyyed Mosque in Ahmedabad.
• HowThe mosque’s carved “tree of life” jali screen is considered one of the finest examples of stone lattice work in India.
• ConstructionIt was built in 1573 by Sidi Saiyyed, an East African soldier serving the Gujarat Sultanate’s last ruler. That same year, Akbar’s Mughal army conquered Gujarat — this jali is effectively the sultanate’s final architectural statement.
• StoryThe jali’s design later became so iconic that it was adopted as the official symbol of IIM Ahmedabad. A single mosque screen is still recognised across India, centuries after the sultanate that built it disappeared.

Gujarat Builds on Hindu-Jain Craft

• HowGujarat’s Islamic architecture drew heavily on the region’s existing Hindu and Jain temple-building traditions — richly carved pillars, ornate brackets, and trabeate (post-and-lintel) construction.
• InsteadIt didn’t rely purely on Persian arcuate (arch-and-dome) methods, the way many other regional styles did.
• StoryA Gujarat sultanate mosque can look, from certain angles, almost like a converted Jain temple. Local Hindu and Jain artisans carried their own carving conventions straight into the new Islamic commissions.

Hoshang Shah’s Tomb: The Taj’s Ancestor

• Marble TombThe Malwa Sultanate, centred at Mandu, produced Hoshang Shah’s Tomb. It was the first major tomb in India built entirely of white marble, predating the Taj Mahal by roughly two centuries.
• WhyShah Jahan is said to have sent architects to study it before building the Taj. That’s a direct line from this regional tomb to India’s most famous monument.
• StoryA visitor standing before Hoshang Shah’s Tomb can spot the same domed, symmetrical white marble silhouette the Taj Mahal would later make world-famous. This came two centuries earlier, and on a far smaller scale.

The Jahaz Mahal, Ship Palace, and The Jama Masjid at Gulbarga

• Jahaz MahalAlso at Mandu, the Jahaz Mahal, meaning “Ship Palace,” was built on a narrow strip of land between two artificial lakes.
• ResultFrom a distance, the long, low palace creates the illusion of floating like a ship on water.
• StoryThe illusion is strongest at dawn or dusk. The lakes on either side reflect the palace’s long silhouette, doubling the sense that it is drifting rather than standing still.

• Mosque DesignThe Bahmani Sultanate, based in the Deccan, built the Jama Masjid at Gulbarga.
• InsteadIt’s unusual among Indian mosques for having a fully roofed courtyard, rather than the open courtyard typical elsewhere. This design was influenced by mosque architecture from the wider Persian and West Asian world.
• StoryStanding inside, a visitor sees no open sky at all. Dozens of small domes cover the entire prayer hall, a design unlike almost any other major mosque in India.

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