Class 7 Social Science Notes Chapter 5 (Rulers And Buildings) – Out Pasts - II Book

Alright class, let's focus on Chapter 5: Rulers and Buildings from your 'Our Pasts - II' textbook. This chapter is crucial as it explores the connection between the power and vision of rulers and the magnificent structures they commissioned during the medieval period. Understanding this link is important not just for your exams but also for appreciating India's rich architectural heritage.

Chapter 5: Rulers And Buildings - Detailed Notes

1. Introduction: Power, Piety, and Architecture

• Between the 8th and 18th centuries, kings and their officers built two main kinds of structures:
  • Private/Protected Structures: Forts, palaces, garden residences, and tombs – safe, protected, grandiose places for rulers and their rest.
  • Public Structures: Temples, mosques, tanks, wells, caravanserais (inns for travellers), and bazaars – meant for public activity, demonstrating the ruler's care for subjects and piety.
• Construction activity was also undertaken by merchants and others, but large-scale projects were primarily associated with kings to assert power and legacy.

2. Engineering Skills and Construction Techniques

• Medieval monuments showcase sophisticated engineering skills.
• Early Medieval (c. 7th - 10th centuries): Trabeate or Corbelled Style
  • Roofs, doors, and windows were made by placing a horizontal beam across two vertical columns.
  • Corbelling: To build arches or domes without true arches, layers of stones or bricks were placed, with each layer projecting slightly beyond the one below it, until they met at the top, often capped by a keystone.
  • Example: Screen in the Quwwat al-Islam mosque, Delhi (late 12th century).
• Later Medieval (c. 12th century onwards): Arcuate Style
  • Introduction and widespread use of the true arch and dome.
  • The weight of the superstructure above doors and windows was carried by the arches. The keystone at the centre of the arch transferred the weight down to the base.
  • This allowed for larger, lighter, and more spacious interiors.
  • Limestone Cement: Increasingly used in construction. Mixed with stone chips, it hardened into concrete, making large structures easier and faster to build.
  • Example: Alai Darwaza (early 14th century), Delhi.

3. Building Temples, Mosques, and Tanks: Demonstrating Power and Devotion

• Temples:
  • Built by kings to demonstrate their devotion to God and their power and wealth.
  • Often lavishly decorated and endowed with land and grants for maintenance.
  • Kings often took the god's name or a similar name (e.g., King Rajarajadeva built the Rajarajeshvara temple for his god, Rajarajeshvaram). This proclaimed the king's close relationship with God, sometimes suggesting the king was like a god or his representative.
  • Temples served as miniature models of the world ruled by the king and his allies. Worshipping deities together in the royal temple seemed to bring about the just rule of the gods on earth.
  • Example: Kandariya Mahadeva temple (dedicated to Shiva), built c. 999 CE by King Dhangadeva of the Chandela dynasty. Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur, built by Chola king Rajaraja I.
• Mosques (Masjid):
  • Muslim Sultans and Padshahs presented themselves as protectors of Islam. They did not claim to be incarnations of God but Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the "Shadow of God".
  • Mosques were centres for congregational prayer (namaz). Muslims gathered to pray together, facing Mecca (the direction known as qibla). The prayer was led by the most respected, learned male (imam).
  • Building mosques demonstrated the ruler's role as a protector of the faith and provided a space for the community (umma) to gather, reinforcing solidarity.
  • Example: Quwwat al-Islam mosque, Delhi; Begumpuri mosque (built by Muhammad Tughluq), Delhi.
• Tanks and Reservoirs (Hauz):
  • Access to water was crucial. Rulers often constructed large reservoirs and tanks, earning great praise.
  • These were often part of temple, mosque, or Gurdwara complexes.
  • Example: Hauz-i-Sultani or the "King's Reservoir" constructed by Sultan Iltutmish outside Delhi-i Kuhna.

4. Why Were Temples Targeted?

• Since temples were symbols of a king's power, wealth, and devotion, they were often targeted during warfare.
• Attacking and desecrating the temples of defeated rulers was a political act to undermine their authority and legitimacy. It demonstrated the victor's power and often yielded significant loot.
• Examples:
  • Pandyan king Srimara Srivallabha defeating Sri Lankan king Sena I (c. 831-851) and seizing valuable statues, including a golden Buddha image.
  • Chola king Rajendra I (c. 1014-1044) building a Shiva temple filled with statues seized from defeated rulers (Chalukyas, Kalingas, Palas).
  • Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (c. 997-1030) attacking temples, including Somnath in Gujarat, primarily for wealth and to establish credentials as a great hero of Islam (though his motives were largely political and economic).

5. Gardens, Tombs, and Forts: The Mughal Contribution

• Mughal architecture marked a significant phase, blending Central Asian (Timurid) traditions with regional Indian styles.
• Gardens (Chahar Bagh - Four Gardens):
  • Babur, the first Mughal emperor, was interested in formal gardens.
  • These gardens were rectangular enclosures divided into four quarters by artificial channels (representing the rivers of Paradise).
  • Symbolized order, control over nature, and evoked images of Paradise.
  • Examples: Gardens of Humayun's Tomb (Delhi), Shalimar Gardens (Kashmir, Lahore), gardens within the Red Fort (Delhi).
• Tombs:
  • Became architecturally prominent under the Mughals. Often placed at the centre of a Chahar Bagh.
  • Characterized by a central, often bulbous dome, and a tall gateway (pishtaq).
  • Inspired by Timurid traditions and Central Asian architecture.
  • Examples: Humayun's Tomb (Delhi, built mid-16th century - a precursor), Taj Mahal (Agra, built by Shah Jahan 1632-1643 for Mumtaz Mahal - the zenith, made of white marble).
• Forts:
  • Mughals built massive, imposing forts as symbols of power and administrative centres.
  • Extensive use of red sandstone.
  • Examples: Agra Fort (construction started by Akbar), Red Fort (Delhi, built by Shah Jahan).
• Shah Jahan's Architectural Innovations:
  • Known as the "Engineer King"; patronized architecture on a grand scale.
  • Fused different elements in a grand synthesis. Huge construction projects in Agra and Delhi.
  • Audience Halls (Diwan-i Khas/Aam): Carefully planned ceremonial halls. Often described as chihil sutun (forty-pillared halls). Placed within a large courtyard.
  • Pietra Dura: Technique of inlaying coloured hard stones (lapis lazuli, carnelian, topaz etc.) into depressions carved into marble or sandstone, creating beautiful patterns. Extensively used in the Taj Mahal and Red Fort.
  • Symbolism in Court Architecture: Shah Jahan's throne was placed strategically. In Delhi's Red Fort, the emperor's throne was placed behind a series of pietra dura inlays depicting the Greek god Orpheus playing the lute, suggesting the king's justice would make even fierce beasts coexist peacefully. The construction aimed to communicate that the king's justice was divinely inspired and treated high and low as equals. The audience hall faced the qibla direction when the court was in session.
  • Riverfront Garden City: Shah Jahan adapted the riverfront garden layout for the Taj Mahal (tomb at the edge, by the river, garden south of it) and his new capital Shahjahanabad (Delhi). The palace commanded the riverfront, and only favoured nobles were given access to the river. Others had to build away from the Yamuna.

6. Region and Empire: Architectural Cross-Fertilization

• As empires expanded, different regional architectural styles influenced imperial construction. Conversely, imperial styles were adopted and adapted by regional rulers.
• Examples of Influence:
  • Vijayanagara: Elephant stables show influence from the architecture of the neighbouring Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda.
  • Vrindavan: Temples constructed showed architectural similarities to Mughal palaces in Fatehpur Sikri.
  • Bengal: Local rulers developed a roof style mimicking a thatched hut. Mughals liked this 'Bangla dome' and used it extensively (e.g., in Akbar's capital Fatehpur Sikri).
  • Gujarat: Architectural styles from this region influenced Akbar's buildings in Fatehpur Sikri.
• Even after Mughal power declined, rulers of independent regional kingdoms continued to use Mughal architectural styles, demonstrating the lasting impact of imperial patronage.

Conclusion:

The buildings constructed by rulers in medieval India were not just structures of brick and stone. They were powerful statements about the ruler's authority, wealth, piety, connection to the divine, and vision for their kingdom. Studying these monuments helps us understand the political, social, and cultural dynamics of the era.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. The 'trabeate' or 'corbelled' style of architecture primarily involved:
   a) Using true arches and domes.
   b) Placing horizontal beams across vertical columns.
   c) Inlaying coloured stones into marble.
   d) Building massive water tanks.

2. Which technique, becoming prominent from the 12th century, used true arches and domes, often employing limestone cement?
   a) Trabeate
   b) Pietra Dura
   c) Arcuate
   d) Chahar Bagh

3. The Rajarajeshvara temple at Thanjavur was built by which ruler?
   a) King Dhangadeva
   b) Sultan Iltutmish
   c) Rajaraja I
   d) Rajendra I

4. Why were temples often targeted during medieval warfare?
   a) They were easy to destroy.
   b) They were symbols of the defeated ruler's power and wealth.
   c) They occupied valuable land needed for forts.
   d) They primarily housed enemy soldiers.

5. The 'Chahar Bagh' style, popularised by the Mughals, refers to:
   a) A forty-pillared audience hall.
   b) A tomb with a central towering dome.
   c) A formal garden divided into four quarters.
   d) A technique of inlaying precious stones.

6. Which Mughal emperor is credited with large-scale construction in Agra and Delhi, including the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort in Delhi?
   a) Babur
   b) Humayun
   c) Akbar
   d) Shah Jahan

7. The technique of inlaying coloured hard stones into marble or sandstone, creating intricate patterns, is known as:
   a) Corbelling
   b) Pishtaq
   c) Pietra Dura
   d) Bangla Dome

8. The 'Bangla Dome', an architectural feature adopted by the Mughals, originated from the regional style of:
   a) Gujarat
   b) Bengal
   c) Vijayanagara
   d) Malwa

9. In Muslim congregational mosques, the direction faced during prayer (towards Mecca) is called:
   a) Imam
   b) Pishtaq
   c) Qibla
   d) Hauz

10. Humayun's Tomb in Delhi is architecturally significant as:
    a) The first major use of red sandstone by Mughals.
    b) An early example of the Mughal tomb complex set within a Chahar Bagh.
    c) The largest mosque built by the Mughals.
    d) A structure built entirely using the trabeate technique.

Answer Key for MCQs:

1. b
2. c
3. c
4. b
5. c
6. d
7. c
8. b
9. c
10. b

Make sure you revise these points thoroughly. Pay attention to the specific examples, architectural terms, and the motivations behind the constructions. Good luck with your preparation!