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

1.1 What does regional or provincial architecture mean?

Provincial architecture is the style that grew up in the provinces, away from the capital. After the Delhi Sultanate weakened, governors and nobles set up their own kingdoms. Each new court had to build mosques, tombs and cities.

These courts did not copy Delhi. Each one mixed Islamic ideas with what its own region already knew how to build. That is why a Gujarat mosque and a Deccan mosque look so different.

1.2 Why did these local styles appear?

Four reasons are given. Power was concentrated in Delhi, so its influence was weaker in far-off places. The local artisans had their own old arts. Skilled foreign craftsmen migrated in. And the climate shaped what could be built.

The same notes date the Gujarat style to 1300 to 1572. Malwa and the Deccan follow in the 15th century. Keep these three regions in mind. The rest of this lesson takes them one by one.

2.1 How did the Gujarat Sultanate begin?

Zafar Khan, the governor of Gujarat under the Tughluqs of Delhi, declared independence. He ruled as Muzaffar Shah I. The sultanate is dated to 1407.

In 1411 Sultan Ahmad Shah founded the city of Ahmadabad. He chose a spot on the banks of the Sabarmati river, near an older small settlement called Karnavati or Asawal.

2.2 Why was the capital moved from Patan?

Ahmadabad replaced Patan as capital. Ahmad Shah faced uncles in south and central Gujarat, and restless Rajputana lay next to Patan. The new site was closer to the port towns of Cambay and Bharuch.

From there it was easier to control south and central Gujarat. It was also easier to reach Malwa, Mewar and Idar, which often clashed with Gujarat. Three Sufi orders blessed the city’s founding, which gave the new capital religious standing.

2.3 What happened to the city later?

Ahmadabad stayed the capital for about seventy-five years. Then Mahmud Begada moved the court to Champaner and renamed it Muhammadabad. Ahmadabad still thrived as a trade and industry town.

In 1487 Mahmud Begada ordered large city walls, almost 10 km around, with twelve major gates. In 1572 Akbar captured the city, and it became the capital of the Mughal province of Gujarat.

3.1 What made Gujarat buildings special?

Gujarat had its own set of building habits that mark a monument as Gujarati. The base was a rich tradition of carving and dressing sandstone. Skilled craftsmen could take stone carving to a very high level.

The Jami mosque of Ahmad Shah in Ahmadabad has 15 domes and 260 pillars. Its two richly carved minarets were called the shaking minarets. They were destroyed in the earthquake of 1819.

3.2 What is a jaali, and where is it best seen?

A jaali is a perforated stone screen. It is carved with geometric patterns and with fine vine, leaf and flower designs. It is a stone screen with the pattern cut right through.

The jaali was first used in Ahmad Shah’s Jami mosque. Its high point is the Sidi Sayyid mosque of 1572. Gujarat’s jaalis even travelled abroad: a 15th-century saint’s tombstone in Gresik, east Java, is reported to have come from Gujarat.

3.3 What are the jharokha, the tank and the stepwell?

A jharokha is an overhanging, roofed balcony. It is a Gujarat feature, seen on the Teen Darwaza, a large ceremonial gateway in the middle of Ahmadabad.

Water works also shaped the landscape. Sultan Qutbuddin built the Hauz-i Qalb, now Kankariya Lake, near the royal palace. In 1499 Dhai Harir, a senior lady of Mahmud Begada’s household, built a stepwell in Harirpura.

4.1 What is Champaner-Pavagadh?

It is a UNESCO World Heritage park in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat. It centres on Pavagadh Hill, a volcanic hill that rises 800 m above the plains. The site has 12 separate areas.

In the 13th century the Khichi Chauhan Rajputs built a hill-fortress here. Their remains include temples and water-holding tanks.

4.2 Why did a sultan make it his capital?

The Gujarat sultan conquered the hill-fortress in 1484. Mahmud Begada then chose Champaner as his capital, and its most important phase began. The town was rebuilt at the foot of the hill.

Champaner stayed the capital until 1536, when it was abandoned. This makes it a very short-lived capital. Most of the city is still buried and unexcavated.

4.3 Why does this site matter for the exam?

UNESCO calls its Great Mosque, the Jama Masjid, a model for later mosque architecture in India. It describes the site as a perfect blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture.

That blend comes from the period of regional sultanates. A living Hindu shrine, the Kalika Mata temple, still crowns the hill. Old and new faiths share the same landscape.

5.1 Who ruled Malwa from Mandu?

Dilawar Khan Ghuri founded the Malwa sultanate, and the capital moved from nearby Dhar to Mandu around 1401. Hoshang Shah Ghuri ruled from 1405 to 1435. The Ghurids were soon replaced by the Khaljis, who held Malwa from 1436 to 1531.

The last independent ruler was the famous Baz Bahadur, who ruled from 1555 to 1561. The Mughals completely subdued Mandu in 1562. Mandu mattered because it controlled a major route from north India to the Deccan.

5.2 How is Mandu built?

Mandu sits on a large mesa on the southern outcrops of the Vindhya range. Its defensive walls run for more than 40 km and have a dozen gates. The main gate on the north is the Dilli Darwaza.

The plateau lies over 600 m high, so lakes are the only water source. The walls enclose lakes, gardens and farmland, so the fort could survive a siege on its own.

5.3 Which monuments should you know?

The northern part holds the Hindola Mahal, the Jahaz Mahal, the Ashrafi Mahal, Hoshang Shah’s tomb and his Jami mosque. The Baz Bahadur palace lies at the southern edge. Marble and stucco inlay are used widely, a technique known from the Tughluqs.

Hoshang Shah’s tomb is one of the first buildings in India built entirely of marble.

5.4 What are the features of the Malwa style?

Malwa leaned on the early Tughlaq style of Delhi, because it had few local traditions and was on hostile terms with Gujarat. They list pointed, sloping walls, arches with a spear-head fringe, boat-keel domes and high plinths with long flights of steps.

Builders also used coloured marble, semi-precious stones and glazed tiles. The artisans of Malwa are said to have owned a secret formula for turquoise blue.

6.1 How did the Deccan style differ?

Unlike many other Muslim rulers, the Deccan rulers largely ignored local art. They built a style of their own. Two streams fed it. One was the Delhi style, carried south when Muhammad Tughlaq moved to Daulatabad. The other was the Persian style, brought by Persians who arrived by sea.

The Deccan style splits into three phases: the Gulbarga phase (Bahmani), the Bidar phase (Bahmani and Barid) and the Golkonda phase (Qutub Shahi).

6.2 What is special about the Jami Masjid at Gulbarga?

The mosque was designed by Rafi, a Persian architect from Qazvin. It is a rare Indian mosque with no open courtyard, because the whole hall is roofed. Small cupolas on arches cover the space.

The hall measures 216 by 176 feet, with 68 bays each topped by a cupola. It has very little ornament. The style did not catch on in India. It may have inspired the Kali Masjid and Khirki Masjid in Delhi.

6.3 Why did the capital shift to Bidar?

Gulbarga was the first Bahmani capital. Around 1424 Ahmad I founded Bidar as a new capital. It sits at the edge of the northern plateau, which made it easy to defend.

Bidar has Mahmud Gawan’s madrasa and the Chaubara, an unusual cylindrical tower. Its citadel has triple moats and is fed by qanats, underground water channels.

6.4 What happened after Bidar?

By the early 1500s the Bahmani kingdom was breaking up into five Deccan sultanates. Bidar stayed the seat of the last Bahmani kings, then of the Barid Shahs, until Bijapur annexed it in 1619. Golconda became the capital of the Qutb Shahis, one of the new states.

For the story of that next power, read the lesson on the Bijapur Sultanate.

7.1 How do Gujarat, Malwa and the Deccan compare?

Dates and examples are in the sources below.

Notice how the local base changes the result. Strong craft traditions gave Gujarat its carving. Few local traditions pushed Malwa towards Delhi. The Deccan went its own way.

7.2 What should you remember for the exam?